A Drift in the Bay
by arinhel.melleide
Summary: '...A piece of Chuck was surprised at her outburst, the sight of Addisyn Fisher only infuriated him further. He was sick of her always hanging around his old man, spoiling his dog. And he constantly saw her in the Drift, both from his father and himself. And using his full name like she was scolding a child? Not even his old man did that, and she was for damn sure not his mother'
1. Prologue

_**A/N:** This is my first foray into the Pacific Rim fandom, and I know a number of my followers are going to see this and want to cry because they are hoping for something completely different. _

_Anyway, I always wanted a little more backstory for the Hansens, their relationship was more interesting and much more real to me than any of the others. There are actually a lot more fics centering around them than I anticipated, but there are still not enough. There are also a number of OC's, but most of them were also Jaeger pilots._ _I wanted to explore a different angle. So, over the last month or so, I did a ton of research into the_ Pacific Rim _wiki (which saved my sanity), and made a dedicated character descriptions document, a nearly complete outline, and I even have some of the next chapters written! (sorta ;P)_

 _So, here you have it_ A Drift in the Bay _._

 _I own nothing pertaining to_ Pacific Rim _or_ Phryne Fisher Mysteries _. The only thing I own are my (kinda) dearly crafted OC's._

 ** _Edited:_** _2/1/18_

* * *

 ** _Prologue_**

 _August 2003_

Hercules Hansen, still in his RAAF uniform from coming straight off-duty, looked down at his newborn son. Astonished that he and Angela had somehow made this wonderful being…Well, more her than him, but he did help.

His son nestled against him, and Herc cracked a smile at the thought.

His son. Chuck.

"He's my son too, Herc," his wife chastised him, smiling and pulling him around to face her again. She still looked like a dog's breakfast from giving birth that morning, but there was a light in her eyes as she looked at their son.

"Come along and give him to me for feeding, so he's not hungry and fussy when Laura and Ryan show up." Herc smiled down at her as she reached up for the bundle in his arms.

"Too late! Let me see that bub!" Came the familiar and joyful cry of Laura Fisher, childhood friend to his wife, as she burst into the room. Herc finished handing off the baby to his wife and sat down next to her on the hospital bed, thoroughly amused by the rapt expression on Laura's face. Ryan came up behind her to stare almost longingly at the child, resting an arm over his girlfriend's shoulders.

"Laura, meet Charles Donovan Hansen, named for both his grandfathers. Little Chuck, this is your Aunty Laura."

"Hey lil' fella, it's nice to finally meet you face to face. I'm the one that's been singing to you all these months, on account of your Mum here, she's got about as much voice as a rabbit." She grinned cheekily at Angela who glared back half-heartedly. "And thanks to you being a boy, I still have a chance at a cracking name."

Herc aimed a questioning glance at the other man in the room.

"Apparently, they made a promise years ago," Ryan said, nodding his head at his girlfriend. "When they were kids, they were obsessed with this book series about a Lady Detective set in the 1920's. Laura here—still a little obsessed," he stage-whispered. "She told me all about it on the way here."

"Well, compared to my parents, she was a much better model for female independence, and I want my daughter to grow up with that kind of strength." Laura said, still smiling at Chuck. "Besides," she faced him putting her hands on her hips, "if you had the same last name as a classy and sexy Australian Lady Detective you'd feel the same way."

* * *

 _July 2004_

More than a week out of the hospital and Laura still felt absolutely knackered. She had to have a C-section because the pregnancy had put a strain on her heart, and she was still healing. The doctors had kept her for a few more days than she really thought necessary. No—she knew that it was important with her click-murmur—she could have had a heart attack.

But, it had all been worth it. There, lying in her arms was her beautiful, little Phryne Addisyn Fisher.

Her daughter.

"Hey, love, what are you doing just standing there? The Hansens have just got in from Sydney to see that little miracle in your arms. Not to mention to see you alive and well." Ryan smiled fondly as he saw Laura's eyes light up at the mention of her best friend. He knew moving to Melbourne had been hard on her, but she had borne it well. They had scheduled video calls every week for her and Angela to keep in touch.

Laura moved as fast as the baby in her arms would allow. Practically bowled Ryan over in her eagerness to see her friend.

"Let me see that little beauty!" Angela was just as excited to see Laura's child, as Laura had been to see little Chuck when he was born. It made Herc smile to see his wife so happy.

"How's about a trade? I'll hand you Phryne, and your man there, hands over Chuck…" Laura opened her eyes wide and made a puppy dog face, carefully holding out her daughter to Angela. Herc couldn't hold back the chuckle that rose in his throat as he handed over Chuck. Giving Laura a peck on the cheek and a one-armed hug in greeting, he went to stand next to Ryan to watch the women gush over their children.

* * *

 _March 2005_

It had been drizzling lightly as Laura and Ryan pushed little Phryne in her pram on their way to dinner for Ryan's birthday. Phryne was not even eight months old, but she was always trying to take in as much of the world around her as she possibly could. Big gray-green eyes, like sea glass Ryan said, opened wide and staring.

Moments later those same eyes were squeezed shut and Phryne was crying loudly. Laura was barely able to hold on to her child. She was in her own state of distress, sitting on the curb as ambulance sirens wailed and lights flashed all around her.

Lying in the middle of the street, emergency responders surrounding him, was Ryan.

He had seen the car skidding on the rain-slicked road before she had, and shoved her and Phryne out of the way. Leaving himself in the vehicle's path. The driver was this poor girl, only a bit younger than Laura herself, out with her father. The father had been the one to call 0-0-0, and had even tried performing CPR.

It had all been useless.

 _Ryan Collins_

 _Loving partner, father_

 _and friend_

 _13 March 1981 – 12 March 2005_

Laura stood in front of his gravestone for an hour after the funeral. Still not having come to terms with the fact that it was real, and not just some horrible nightmare. Believing that she would wake up the next morning and hear Ryan talking to Phryne in that silly voice that always made her laugh.

Herc stayed with her at the cemetery, while Angela went back to the house to look after Phryne and Chuck. He stood behind her in silence, just giving her space. At last, he stepped up and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I know nothing I say is going to make this better." She glanced at him out the corner of her eye. "So all I'm going to say is that we're here for you, whenever you need us." Herc gave her a small, reassuring smile, which she half-heartedly returned. After pulling her into a hug, he wordlessly convinced her to walk away with him.

* * *

 _August 2013_

Phryne started asking how things worked when she first started speaking—her first word was 'How'. As soon as she had enough coordination, she started to take apart her toys, and put them back together, but better. She got bored with that by the time she was eight, and she started to take apart her mother's kitchen appliances.

After Laura stopped her from taking apart the microwave, she knew she was going to have to find something else to entertain her daughter. She began telling stories from when she was younger. About how she and Aunty Angela had concocted all kinds of stories and adventures.

And how Herc was a fighter pilot. That had interested Phryne, and the little girl had pestered Herc to no end about how the plane worked the next time they had visited the Hansens. Which had annoyed young Chuck to no end, because they had been visiting for his birthday, and he wanted everyone to pay attention to him.

Chuck began to tease Phryne relentlessly whenever they were together, once even pulled on her pigtails. As upset as the parents had been in the moment, afterwards they all had a good laugh about the cliché.

But anytime that Phryne asked about her father, her mum's face would twist with a pained smile and all she would say was, 'He was a lot like you.'

Phryne began to complain about school, not wanting to go, pretending to be sick. School itself was not hard for her-except for the sports, she was abysmal with anything requiring hand-eye coordination. But, she found virtually nothing interesting in the dull lessons of her teachers and she had little in common with kids her age.

The only time that she felt her whole mind was occupied was when she would stop at the auto-repair garage two doors down from their apartment building. At first, the two mechanics had tried to shoo her away. What would a little girl want hanging around a garage? But after she asked how the cylinders maintained pressure, they just stared at her for a second before the older man had picked her up so she could see into the engine block.

By the next year, at the age of nine, she was stopping by every day-always wanting to know more, and very keen to help. They started her slowly, in places where she couldn't do any lasting damage with her incessant tinkering, and she loved it. The garage had become her home away from home.

Therefore, it was not surprising that the garage's radio that first brought her the news of Trespasser attacking San Francisco.

* * *

 _September 2014_

Chuck hadn't wanted to go to school that morning. He'd wanted to stay with his mum, so he could get news of his dad as soon as she did. Herc was one of the pilots fending off the giant monster heading for Sydney. But she had insisted, saying he would be safer at school, and she would come and get him as soon as she heard anything about his father.

But Chuck never expected to hear from his dad first. Or rather, he never expected to _see him_ first. Herc's helicopter had touched down in the near empty parking lot of Chuck's school. Only a handful of teachers and students had even gone in and most of them had cleared out as soon as the evacuation sounded.

Now, Chuck was screaming at his father to turn the helicopter around. To go back for his mother. Herc almost could not bear to hear the plaintive cries of his son, his heart was screaming the same. Screaming at him to turn around and go rescue his wife.

 _There wasn't enough time!_ If he went back for her, they would all die. At least this way his son would, hopefully, get to live past eleven. And Angela might have gotten out already. She always had a cool head in a crisis, she would—she would make sure everyone else was out first…

* * *

Phryne dropped her school bag and ran for the kitchen when she heard her mother's strangled cry, briefly tripping over the rug. Laura was on the floor, one hand over her mouth, the other holding her mobile to her ear. Tears were streaking down her face as she sobbed.

The ten-year-old girl just stood there in shock at seeing her mother so broken down. The phone slipped out of Laura's hand and Phryne picked it up.

"H-Hello?"

"Little Phryne, that you?" Their visits had slackened over the last couple years, but she still recognized the voice on the other end. It was Herc.

"What's going on Uncle Herc? Why is Mum crying?"

"Your—uh…" He paused, sounding upset. "Your Aunt Angela was—uh—" Phryne heard a sound she never thought she would hear. Hercules Hansen crying. She knew what happened then, and tears started to well up.

"The Kaiju got her, didn't it?" He hummed a response. Phryne had to take a deep breath to stop the sob in her throat. It would only make Herc and her mother more upset if they heard her sobbing too. Mum was still crying, but she was slowing down. There was one question she needed to ask before she could hang up.

"I-Is Chuck okay?" She was proud there was only a slight tremble to her voice.

"Yeah, Sweet-Pea, he's fine." Herc had composed himself. "I picked him up myself." She heard him take another deep breath. "Now you need to help your mum, alright? And can you… Can you tell her I'm sorry that I broke my promise?"

"I will." Phryne hung up and put the mobile down on the benchtop. It was time to help her mum.

* * *

 _February 2020_

Sweat dripped down Chuck's face and into his eyes, but he ignored it. He _had_ to ignore it. He had to focus on the Drift, letting it all flow through him. He could not hold onto anything, especially not the image of his mother's face. He could not fail now, not after working so _hard_.

After the attack on Sydney, his father and uncle enlisted almost immediately, and nearly all the last six years he spent at the Academy or in the Sydney Shatterdome. Chuck enlisted in the Jaeger Academy in September 2019, after his sixteenth birthday, and he had excelled. It helped that he had practically been raised in a cockpit, and on the values of the PPDC.

He was a quick learner and physically fit, but in all previous Drift Sync Tests, Chuck couldn't Drift with any of his remaining classmates for any real length of time and the neural handshake never rose above 55%.

He had no problem letting go and getting into the Drift. His problem, no one was up to his standards.

But, this was more than just regular Drift Sync Testing. This was tryouts for Australia's Mark-V Jaeger, Striker Eureka, and the man he was trying to initiate a neural bridge with, was Hercules Hansen. His father.

Chuck watched the stream of memories flow by, noting what happened with his uncle and meaning to ask his father later. The hardest was reliving that helicopter ride out of Sydney. Hearing his own eleven-year-old voice screaming at his father to turn around and go back for his mother. The call his father made to Laura Fisher and hearing Phryne ask if he, Chuck, was okay. But he could also feel the guilt and sorrow his father had felt.

In that moment, Chuck finally let go of a little of his resentment towards his father.

" _Neural bridge initiated. Neural handshake at 85% and climbing._ "

Turned out that was all he needed to do.

* * *

 _October 2021_

There were only two people left in the classroom. One, a tall, broad man in his early twenties, who was near tears with disappointment. The other, a seventeen-year-old girl with brown hair so dark it was almost black, and gray-green eyes, like sea-glass, behind frameless glasses. She was much calmer, but it was a resigned calm, like she knew what was about to happen was not going to be good. All the other cadets had either been given their week of leave before they were expected to return for the second trimester or dismissed from the program.

The door opened and both cadets sat up straighter. They were in the presence of Marshal Stacker Pentecost. Former Jaeger pilot, and one of two Rangers to have ever successfully piloted a Jaeger solo.

"Phryne Fisher?" She sighed inwardly, as she carefully stood to attention, taking care to pull her foot out from around the chair leg. It would not be good if she took a spill in front of him.

"It's Addisyn, sir. Only my mum calls me Phryne these days." He nodded and made a note in the tablet he was carrying, which he had yet to look up from. When he finally did he was surprised to see the other man still in the room.

"Cadet, state your name."

"James Mulligan, Marshal." Addisyn felt bad for the man. He had this forgettable atmosphere around him. Like you only remembered he was there if you were looking right at him. The only reason Addie knew him at all was because he was a fellow Aussie and had tended to stick close to her.

"Mulligan? You are supposed to report to J-Tech for assignment. Were you not called on the roll?"

"No, sir. People tend to forget I'm there, skip over my name and everything."

"It's true, Marshal. I never heard his name called." Addie confirmed.

"Well, move your arse, man, before they forget to assign you to a team." Jimmy nodded and, after remembering to salute the Marshal, ran out of the room.

Marshal Pentecost pulled-up a chair and sat, still looking at the tablet. He did wave for her to sit back down, which was a relief. She was a lot less likely to make a fool of herself sitting down.

"So, Addisyn, you failed almost every single physical exercise past running laps." He sounded slightly bemused at this tidbit of information.

"Yes, sir." Addie sighed, she knew it was a problem. As soon as she did anything that required the slightest hand-eye coordination that did not involve a wrench, it was like her body betrayed her. Well, in fact it was her left-eye that betrayed her; it was slightly amblyopic. It just would not focus properly and that made her depth perception a bit off. Her glasses helped some, but most of the time she just let her hair cover it.

"I wondered why you even bothered enlisting at the academy when I saw that." Addie felt her heart constrict. "However, you passed all your written classes, some with the highest marks I've ever seen." He finally looked up at her, and his eyes seemed to see right through to her soul.

"Did you know that your engineering instructor insisted you take an aptitude test?" Addie nodded, thinking back. She and a couple others had been pulled out of one of the Kwoon combat training sessions to take a written test.

"I was never told what it was for, I was just glad I wasn't going to make a bloody fool of myself in the Kwoon again."

"So they never told you what you scored?" She shook her head. "You have an IQ of 135, and a clear proficiency with mechanical engineering. You could have taught that engineering class if you wanted to." Marshal Pentecost looked at her expectantly.

"I don't know what to say, sir." Addie just sat there, stunned. She always knew she was smart, but not that smart. "I've always been interested in how things work and Jaegers have fascinated me since the concept was introduced at the conference in South Korea."

"Good, because I want to offer you a position as a Jaeger Engineer on Striker Eureka."

* * *

 _February 2022_

Addie was up on one of the high rigs when Herc found her, working on a piece of Striker's shoulder plating that had come loose. It was the afternoon after Spinejackal's attack on Melbourne and Herc wanted to make a habit to sit and talk with her after a Drop, while she made repairs. She was a piece of his old life that comforted him, though she had stopped calling him Uncle Herc after Angela died. Not to mention he had promised Laura to look after her little girl.

She was sitting down cross-legged, having trouble with a gasket, and her shoulders were trembling. When he finally got a look at her face, Herc could see that she had been crying.

"Hey, little Phryne." She whipped her head up, and she almost looked angry at his use of her childhood name. But then he saw tears welling up in her eyes and she went back to fiddling. He approached her like he would a wounded animal, slowly, with calm and caution. He carefully put a hand over the tool and pulled it out of hers.

"What's got you in such a state, Sweet-Pea?" She was silent for a moment.

"You know that fight had some of the lowest numbers of people exposed to Kaiju Blue?" He shook his head as he sat down next to her. "Well, it did. That's thanks to Striker's super-heated brass knuckles, it cauterizes as it wounds." Addie started fiddling with the zipper of her coveralls.

"But that just isn't enough, you know, there's always some exposure, and, apparently, Spinejackal's blood was especially toxic." Herc was starting to understand what this was about, and he hoped he was wrong.

"Where's this coming from, little Phryne, eh?" He put an arm around her shoulder and squeezed reassuringly.

"Mum was exposed to Kaiju Blue last night." She hiccupped back a sob. "They caught it quick, with her working in the emergency room." She wiped a hand across her face. "But, by the time the doctors neutralized it, it was too late. Her heart was too weak." A sob escaped, but she took a deep breath.

"Mum died this morning, Uncle Herc. I was going to visit her next month to try and get her to go to Dad's grave. To finally move on, y'know. I wanted to ask if you would come with me." She turned her head, sobbing into Herc's shoulder.

Herc was stunned. Laura had been the last of his friends from his old life that he had maintained any contact with. Now she was gone, like Angela, and all he had left of her was sobbing in his arms.

* * *

 _I h_ _ope you like it! Good? Bad? Somewhere in between? Let me know :)_ _I would especially love feedback about Phryne/Addie, and whether she seems like a believable character._

 _PS. If you know who the classy Australian Lady detective is, you get a virtual cookie :3_


	2. Chapter I: Reintroduction

_**A/N:** Finally Chapter One is done! Yay! It took me a lot longer to finish than I anticipated, but a number of the scenes just sort of took on lives of their own... This is something that I'm super proud of it, and I want people to enjoy it. _

_So without further ado, Chapter I!_

 _I own nothing pertaining to_ Pacific Rim _. The only thing I own are my (kinda) dearly crafted OC's._

 ** _Edited:_** _7/9/18_

* * *

 _ **Chapter I:**_ _Reintroduction_

 _21 December 2024  
1300 hours_

Addie sat on the floor across the hangar from Striker Eureka while she finished cleaning and oiling her equipment. The entirety of which was spread out in front of her on a tarp, the floor being the only surface large enough for the task. The Chief only let her do it because she was cleaning his tools as well.

"Hey, Addie." She jumped at the voice right by her ear, dropping the socket wrench from her hand. She turned to see Jimmy Mulligan. She had managed to convince J-Tech to assign her friend to Striker Eureka alongside her. Otherwise he would've been in some forgotten corner of the Proving Grounds, working on basic repairs for the training rigs. Though, probably not even that these days, the Academy was all but shut down.

"Ah! Crikey, Jimmy! Using your power for evil again?" Jimmy had this strange knack for being completely forgettable unless you were looking right at him, which was at odds with his size. He was more than a foot taller than her own 5'5".

"Sorry, Addie, I woulda shouted across for you, but you know how well that works out for me." He shrugged, giving her a sheepish grin. "Chief said you've got some plating you want me to replace?" She nodded her head, picking up her tool.

"Yeah, for the left-hand knuckle dusters, they're still scuffed up from the fight with Fiend. In those crates, there." She pointed off to the side of her tarp. "I would do 'em myself but—"

He looked at her in exasperation. "Addie, you're a Senior Engineer on Striker Eureka. Even with the layoffs, you don't need to be replacing plating."

Addie had been promoted about a year after her mother died. It was a bittersweet moment, and she'd decided to visit both her parents' graves. She would have liked Herc—and Chuck—to come, but her leave time coincided with a Kaiju attack in the Philippines. The Hansens were deployed in Striker to stop it. Afterwards, Herc made a point to go with her every year, and he tried to spend more time with her, with all her family gone.

"I know, but I'd prefer to do it myself, especially right now with the layoffs. I want to make sure everything's in cracking shape." She put down the wrench and picked up a piece of her welding torch. "But I'm swamped with those bloody malfunctioning servos in the release mechanism for her right arm's sting-blades. They're gonna take me the rest of the week to fix. And I'm going to have to deal with those pricks in programming, and they _never_ think it's their fault." Addie rolled her eyes.

"You know we're being decommissioned, right? Almost all the other Shatterdomes have been shut down and we're scheduled for the end of the week, if rumor holds true. Striker just has to look pretty for her trip to Hong Kong," Jimmy said as he carefully picked up a crate and loaded it onto the trolley he brought.

"Never leave a job half-done, Jimmy. I always want Striker Eureka to be in the best shape possible." A sad expression fell over her face. "It's your last week, isn't it? Don't you want to leave her in the best shape she can be?"

Jimmy smiled, a small sad smile, nodding in agreement. He got the next crate situated, asking her if she was going to be at the farewell 'party' for the people leaving that week.

"I wouldn't miss it." Returning his sad smile.

"Right, see you tonight then." And he wheeled the crates away. went back to cleaning her tools, and her brow furrowed.

"Besides, I don't think that blasted wall is going to do anything to protect us from those monsters…" She said as soon as Jimmy was out of earshot.

* * *

Chuck had been in a foul mood all week.

The Sydney Shatterdome was next on the list to be shut down, and Striker Eureka was being 'decommissioned' from active service and moved to Hong Kong. He was being sent away from his home, all because of that stupid Wall of Life, Anti-Kaiju Wall, whatever you want to call it.

 _Yeah, like that'll ever protect anyone from a Kaiju!_ Chuck stalked the halls of the Shatterdome, away from the Kwoon combat room, Max loyally padding along behind him.

The Jaeger pilot was raring for a fight, for anything—or anyone—to vent his frustration on. But no one wanted to spar with him! One bloke had, the bout had lasted all of thirty seconds before Chuck dropped him flat on his arse, bruises already forming. After that, the rest of them had paired off, and given him a wide berth. The only person that could have presented a challenge was his old man, but Herc was with Marshal Pentecost strategizing for what they were calling the 'Last Assault'.

He thought about grabbing lunch in the mess hall, but he was too keyed up to eat anything. So, Chuck just kept moving, caught up in his own tumultuous thoughts, eventually ending up in the hangar. He tended to go there when he was at a loss about something, to sit with Striker, and give a focus to his thoughts.

The scowl on his face ensured no one even attempted to cross his path. Well, no one, except poor Jimmy Mulligan, who wasn't looking. He had taken a step backwards to balance the heavy crate in his arms, unaware of the other man walking right behind him.

The distracted minds of both men, coupled with Jimmy's natural ability to go unnoticed, combined to create a small disaster. There was a tremendous clattering as they collided. The crate of armor plating was upended all over the floor along with the already seething Ranger.

Chuck was stunned for a moment, not sure what just happened. Then he looked up and finally saw the large tech who was starting to apologize. He stood up, took a deep-breath and let out all his pent-up anger.

* * *

Addie always knew whenever Chuck entered a room, a habit she was sometimes a little ashamed to admit. She felt like one of those stupid fangirls that crowded around him whenever he went outside the Shatterdome. Jimmy called it her 'Chuck Sense' and laughed at her every time her head swiveled to the door.

The poor girl just could _not_ help herself, she'd had a crush on the guy since she was eight!

She knew he was an egotistical prick, and almost never had a kind thing to say to anybody, let alone her. She wanted to hate him so bad! And part of her did, particularly when he would lash out at her. Or when he would completely ignore her, as if she didn't exist. That was always more painful than any words he might say.

But another part of her would remember the boy he had been. The one who had punched the neighbor's kid for making her cry. Admittedly, afterwards he said he was the only one allowed to make her cry, but they were nine and eight at the time, so she figured it was better than nothing. Or the ten-year-old boy who had cried himself to sleep almost every night of the six months he stayed with them while Herc was training in the Jaeger Academy.

She had seen him come into the hangar and then ducked her head immediately. She could see he was in a nasty mood and it would be one of the days he would try to pick a fight if he saw her. Not that she ever fought back; she didn't like confrontation, and it was easier to just let him shout at her. And she did feel bad for the attention Herc gave her instead of him. Addie knew it was hard for the Hansen men to show affection to each other—that's what they had Max for.

When Max barked, and made his way over to her, she looked up. She smiled at the dog but glanced at his owner to see if this would set him over the edge. To her horror, she saw, as if in slow motion, Jimmy step backwards directly into Chuck. Nobody else saw it, but they sure heard the aftermath.

Chuck started ripping into Jimmy, who was sputtering out apologies as fast as he could. Addie had a hard time watching, but her getting involved would only escalate things. But when Chuck grabbed Jimmy by the shirt, clearly looking for a fight, something _snapped_ inside her. She couldn't stand to see one of the few friends she had being manhandled.

 _That's it! If he wants a fight, I'll give him a fight!_ Addie threw down the cloth, grabbed her biggest wrench for intimidation factor, and marched over to the spectacle while shouting,

"Charles Donovan Hansen!" Just because she didn't _like_ confrontation, didn't mean she wasn't going to defend a friend.

* * *

 _Her?!_ Chuck thought as his head whipped around, a look of surprised rage painting his face. He pushed Jimmy away hard, causing him to stumble a bit before recovering. At which point the tech carefully sidled out of the way, his ability to dissolve into the background now acting in his favor.

While a piece of Chuck was surprised at her outburst, the sight of Addisyn Fisher only infuriated him further. He was sick of her always hanging around his old man, and spoiling his dog. And he constantly saw her in the Drift, both from his father and himself. And using his full name like she was scolding a child? Not even his old man did that, and she was for damn sure not his mother!

"What did you just call me, Addie?!" She ignored his outburst in favor of her own, her voice high and piercing in her anger. Chuck saw Max peeking out from behind her. _Little traitor._

"It's bad enough you're always destroying my beautiful Striker Eureka," Addie pointed the wrench up at the Jaeger in its bay, then she poked him in the chest with it. "But do you have to wreck my friend's last days on the job?"

"What are you talking about? He knocked me down!" He batted away the tool with ease.

"Yes, but not intentionally! And you just completely lost your mind on him!" She flailed her arms around to mime insanity, nearly clocking herself with the wrench. Chuck saw and made a grab for it, just catching the end in time to stop her waving it around and into her own head.

"Stop that, you'll brain somebody." Though whether he was concerned about himself or her, Chuck wasn't sure.

"Don't change the subject, Hansen!" She glared at him, brushing away her ridiculously dark hair as it fell over her face. " _You_ are more to blame than Jimmy." Chuck spluttered and stared at her, asking how it could possibly be his fault. Their fight had drawn a crowd, not that either of them noticed, or cared.

"You're always too caught up in yourself and your own problems to notice the world around you. Newsflash, Chuck! The world does not revolve around you!" She pulled back on her wrench and it slipped out of his hand.

"Who the hell do you think you are yellin' at me?!" Chuck shouted, glaring at her. Her grip on the wrench tightened until her knuckles went white, her face twisting with what he assumed was the effort not to bludgeon him. Then her face went all calm, a fake smile spreading across it.

"Phryne Addisyn Fisher, J-Tech officer: Jaeger Engineer, Senior Engineer for Striker Eureka's upper extremities, and your childhood friend." She offered her hand in a mock introduction. Chuck just stared at her, dumbfounded and confused. She dropped her hand.

"Now, stop being a prick, Chuck, and open your goddamn eyes. You're not the only one who's hurting right now." And with that she shoved past him to see to Jimmy, sending a glare Chuck's way as they walked by.

Chuck stood there for another moment, blinking in confusion. Addie had never actually stood up to him before, it made him see her in a completely different light.

He wanted to see more of it.

* * *

 _29 December 2024  
1600 hours_

Over the course of the next week, it seemed that wherever Addie looked, Chuck was there.

The first couple of days were a special kind of hell. He was always asking annoying questions, getting into her personal space, and he glared at Jimmy whenever he came near, seeming to have pierced through his invisibility power. She wasn't used to that kind of attention from anybody, let alone him, and it made her nervous. She made clumsy mistakes, and he would make fun of her every time. It was like he was purposefully trying to antagonize her.

After Addie threatened to whack him with her wrench if he didn't stop being such an ass, he seemed to settle down. Started to be nice even. Well, he tried to be nice—he was still an egotistical jerk, just less of an ass. She did have to stop him from pulling on her plaits once, but he'd done that more as a joke than anything else. And he still got in her personal space. She didn't mind that so much, as long as she wasn't doing anything too important.

Chuck even turned out to be somewhat useful with her work on Striker. He had taken the engineering courses at the Academy, and he had retained enough to not break anything. He was taller and stronger than her and she took advantage of that. And frankly, he seemed interested in learning new things about his Jaeger.

It helped that he brought Max along with him. Addie spent a lot of quality time with the loveable bulldog during her newfound breaks.

"Hey, Addie, would ya stop spoiling my dog, and help me do _your_ job?" He was elbow deep in Striker's right forearm; the release mechanism for the blades was still a little buggy, moving too slow for her liking. Turned out, it wasn't the pricks in programming after all.

"I thought you had it handled, Mr. I-Know-Everything?" She smirked up at him, still scratching under Max's collar, making the bulldog kick his leg in pleasure. Chuck gave her a look, and she knew that was as close as he would get to admitting that he was not the best at everything.

"Alright," she sighed as she stood up, patting Max on the head one last time and he whined at the loss. "What're you havin' trouble with?"

"I'm not havin' trouble! I-I," he spluttered for a second and she raised a brow in question. "Your hands are smaller than mine," he finally conceded. "I can't reach into the panel here." He nodded his head toward it. Addie just chuckled as she stepped in to help.

She had to stand directly in front of him to get the right angle on the panel, and Addie felt the heat radiating from his chest. He rested his chin on the top of her head and she almost snagged her screwdriver on a wire in her surprise. Chuck noticed and chuckled at her, which she felt more than heard. She swore he knew the affect he had, and absolutely loved to fluster her, the arrogant jerk. Addie started to recite all the component pieces of the release mechanism in her head.

It was much quieter in the hangar than she was used to. The Sydney Shatterdome had been officially shut down that morning, and there was only a skeleton crew left to work on Striker Eureka for the next couple of days. That same crew had been informed that they would be joining Striker and the Hansens on reassignment to Hong Kong. It made it easier for Addie to get away with Chuck helping her out.

After a few moments of slightly uncomfortable silence, Max barked happily, and trotted down the gangway. Addie felt Chuck tense next to her, and she turned her head to see Herc stoop down to grab the dog's leash. As he stood up, he smiled a little sadly at her and walked back the way he came, without saying a word to his son. Addie looked back up at Chuck as he screwed the panel back in place. There was a stony expression on his face where there had been a smug smile just moments before.

 _Something needs to change._

* * *

 _30 December 2024  
1900 hours_

Sitting in the mess hall at dinner, Herc reflected on the changes in his son's behavior, and all the time he was spending with Little Phryne, as the older man still thought of her. He was the only one who called her by her given name these days, instead of Addie. He was happy the two kids were spending time together again, not just Chuck occasionally sniping at her in the mess hall.

They both seemed happier for it.

But… It was like his presence flipped a switch in his son, and he reverted to his former behavior. So, rather than interrupt them, he simply walked away whenever they were together. He hated the enmity that had formed between Chuck and himself but recognized a large portion of it was his own fault. He had not been the best father after Angela died. He'd left Chuck alone for hours in the Shatterdome, while he was off fighting Kaiju. The only good thing he'd done was get Max, but a dog could not replace a father.

He felt it when they Drifted together, his son's resentment and rage. Drifting and fighting together had taken off some of the hardest edges, but the anger never truly went away. What grew alongside those feelings, was Chuck's determination to be the best, to be better than him, all to make sure what happened to his mother was never repeated.

"Hey, Dad?" Herc looked up from his potatoes, shocked at the almost conversational tone in his son's voice.

"Yeah, mate, what's up?" Chuck sighed, glancing down the table as he did so. Was he nervous?

"I've been thinking," he said it almost grudgingly. "Since we're gonna be leavin' Sydney for a while, why don't we go visit Mum's grave tomorrow? Just the two of us?" Chuck looked down the table a second time, and Herc knew immediately that none of this was his son's idea.

He glanced down the table himself, and just caught Little Phryne watching them with a happy look on her face before she ducked her head back down. Smiling to himself, Herc nodded his head and said it was a good idea.

Maybe this is what the two of them needed. Time spent together when there was no giant monster trying to kill them. And Herc still had to tell him about Operation Pitfall…

* * *

 _1 January 2025  
0100 hours_

 _It's a bleedin' disaster! And it's all her fault! Me and the old man been goin' just fine until she butted in. It was easier, not thinkin' 'bout all that stuff!_

Chuck stumbled drunkenly down the halls of the Shatterdome, away from the tiny New Year's celebration where he'd just drunk almost an entire bottle of the champagne that was being passed around. That was on top of the four beers at the bar he'd gone to after the talk with his father.

He tripped and smashed his foot on a bulk head, cursing himself for not wearing his steel-tipped boots. He realized he'd never been this drunk before—his tolerance for alcohol was pretty high. He'd made fun of other people for putting on their 'wobbly boots', but here he was, having shoved his feet right in them.

She hadn't even been at the New Year's party, like she promised! So now he had to go track her down to yell at her. Chuck had only the vaguest idea where Addie's room was, but goddamn it he was going to find that girl.

He looked up from his foot and noticed a strange light. It was… purple? None of the lights in the Shatterdome were purple. Chuck moved towards the strange light, until he discovered its source. There was a string of light-purple fairy lights around one of the doors, a sign was illuminated overhead. It said ' _ **Addie**_ ' in flowery writing.

Well, that made it easier.

He started banging on the door, shouting for her, fully intent on having it out with her.

When she finally opened the door, however, all thoughts of yelling at her flew right out of his head.

* * *

Addie had just drifted off to sleep when a persistent banging intruded into her lovely dream. Glancing at the clock, the girl cursed seeing that she had only been asleep for roughly half an hour. Not even bothering with her glasses, she put her feet down, and angrily stomped to the door, tripping a over her coveralls left lying on the floor in her exhaustion.

"What?!" She shouted as she squinted through the peep hole.

"Addie, open up! I need to have it out with you!" She blinked, recognizing the visage and voice of one Chuck Hansen.

Opening her door, she said, "What the hell do you want, Chuck? It's well past midnight and I've been up since 4:30. AM. _Yesterday_." Putting emphasis on the last bit.

"You weren't at the New Year's party…" He sounded distracted. Looked distracted. His eyes glancing down the front of her shirt.

Addie remembered then that she hadn't had enough energy to put on her pyjamas before collapsing into bed, and all she was wearing was an old t-shirt and panties. The t-shirt was loose, but it only just came down below her bum, and the neckline was so stretched… It left very little to the imagination.

Despite his skill and experience as a Ranger, Chuck was still a 21-year-old male. A very drunk one at that, as Addie got a whiff of his breath.

"And you decided to try and break down my door? I _was_ there, I waited for you 'till after midnight. You're the one who never showed." She raised an eyebrow questioningly, trying to hide behind her door and hoping that he wouldn't notice the blush rising in her cheeks.

"Well, it's only a bit past midnight…" He leaned on the door frame, trying to peer at her.

"It's one 'o'clock!" She pinched her nose. "You're pissed, Chuck. Go to your own bloody room to crash out." Shaking her head, Addie started to close the door, but he stopped her, slamming a hand against it. His eyes seemed clearer, remembering his initial purpose.

To have it out with her.

"No, I need to tell you 'bout my old man, and what your bloody interference did!" He got up in her face, his height giving him an advantage.

"I guess, it didn't go well with your dad today?" She asked meekly, reverting to her natural avoidance of confrontation.

"No, it didn't! We were silent the whole way to the cemetery, and then we just stood there feeling sorry for ourselves, having no idea what to say to each other! Then we had a huge fight on the way back!"

"Chuck, I'm sorry. I really do want to talk about this, but can't it wait till morning?" It would be better in the morning; she wouldn't be so tired, and he wouldn't be so drunk. She tried to close the door again, but he stalked up the last step, shoving the door open all the way.

"I don't know what I was thinking listening to you! What do you know about me and Dad, eh?" His rage seemed to be burning through the alcohol. "What do you know about being a Jaeger pilot and Drifting with somebody, huh?" Addie started to speak, but Chuck cut her off. "You don't know anything! I _know_ a part of him blames me for her death, I've felt it! Just like he knows part of me blames him for it!" He was gesturing wildly now.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"But we don't ever really think about it! 'Cept now, thanks to you," he pointed a finger directly at her chest, but not touching her, "it's all I can think about!" He turned and walked back down a step, his hands balling into fists and his shoulders hunched up to his ears. Seeming to struggle with himself over something.

"What do you want me to say?" Addie could feel tears welling in her eyes, and her voice trembled. He whipped around so fast she flinched back.

"I don't want you to say anything! You're just a glorified mechanic and that's all you'll ever be good for!"

* * *

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Chuck regretted them. That feeling of regret only sunk in deeper when he saw Addie's eyes glistening with tears. He stepped up, reaching a hand to her shoulder, but she recoiled from his touch.

"Is that really what you think of me?" She said it so quietly, Chuck had to strain to hear her. It would have been better if she shouted…

"Addie, I… I didn't mean…" He searched for words, but she stopped him with a wave of her hand. Loud and raging, Chuck knew how to deal with. He could get angry back. But tears and quietness? He had no idea what to do.

"Just go, Chuck. I don't-" She sucked in a desperate breath and Chuck flinched, expecting full-blown sobs any second. But Addie composed herself.

"I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to see you or hear you. Just go." The last word was said quietly, but with such considerable emotion. It made Chuck take a step back, allowing Addie to slam the door in his face. He stumbled back off the steps in front of her door, realization of what he had just done landing firmly home. It was sobering.

With one thoughtless sentence, he had just thrown all her insecurities back in her face. She had trusted him, hoping to bring back the familiarity they once had with each other. He ruined any chance of her ever trusting him again.

Chuck walked on numb legs through the halls, somehow managing to make it to his own room. He sat down on the bed, and huffed out a breath. He flopped back, scrubbing his hands over his face. There was slightly muffled cursing for a few moments before he pulled them away. Looking up at the ceiling, Chuck sighed in exasperation.

"I am such a goddamned idiot."

* * *

 _1 January 2025  
1100 hours_

Addie woke up, got breakfast, and spent the rest of the morning doing her best to avoid absolutely everyone.

She kept getting these pitying glances, until she couldn't take it anymore and she asked the guy sitting nearest her. Apparently, Kaikaina, the girl who lived across the hall, had left the party with Tucker, her on-and-off boyfriend, for some alone time in her room. The result was that _everyone_ left in the Shatterdome knew about the fight between her and Chuck.

She had glimpsed Herc on the other side of the mess, foolishly made eye contact, and he made a bee-line for her. Addie didn't want to talk to him about it, so she ducked out the nearest door, and ran like hell, tripping all over herself, the uneven flooring and knocking her shoulders into doorways. She only slowed down when she knew she had at least two levels between her and the mess hall, along with a couple of scrapes on her knees, shoulders, and several stubbed toes.

Panting for breath, Addie realized that she was near the Kwoon; no one would think to look for her there!

She made the turn and started at hearing a voice echoing down the corridor. Moving as quietly as she could, trying not to disturb whoever was inside, Addie walked up to the entrance of the combat room. She froze, her breath stolen when she saw who was working out.

It was Chuck. Of freaking course, it was bloody Chuck!

The one person she _definitely_ did not want to see, _had_ to be the one person that she stumbled on. However, Addie could not help but stare at him as he moved through the forms. It wasn't the most graceful, or skillful, display she had seen from him, but the sheer power in every movement was captivating. And, as if that wasn't enough, he was doing it bleedin' shirtless.

It just wasn't fair! She was angry at him! He had belittled her and been an absolute drunken prick! Why did he have to look so goddamn attractive?! Why was he the one guy she'd ever cared about and worried over? The only one whose opinion really mattered to her…

Spellbound, Addie probably would have just stood there staring until he finished, but he moved to turn and face her head-on. She squeaked in surprise and flipped back around the corner, her heart pounding as she heard him stop mid-shout. She waited to be discovered, cursing herself for being so stupid.

After a minute, and the sounds of his training finally resumed, Addie snuck a look, but then quickly fled, suddenly in need of fresh air to clear her head.

She ran for the rooftop access door, knowing no one else was likely to be up on the roof. Bursting out into the fresh air and bright sunlight, Addie took in several deep breaths, trying not to burst into tears. For that split second, she had seen the expression on Chuck's face. It had been identical to how he looked at her the night before, absolute rage and loathing.

She collected herself, however, and found a nice spot in the sun, and sat there for a little while, staring out at the Wall. Seeing past it, to a time when the reefs were still teeming with life, instead of being slowly poisoned and killed by the Kaiju Blue. But no matter how hard she tried to ignore them, she could still hear Chuck's words rolling around in her mind, over and over again.

 _Just a glorified mechanic… All you'll ever be good for…_

Addie was sensitive about not passing the first trimester at the Jaeger Academy, which she had forgone university to attend. She didn't have a degree and she was worried about what she would do when the PPDC officially shut down the Jaeger program. And after working on Jaegers for the last four years, anything else would seem trivial and irrelevant.

She didn't even know why she bothered trying to fix Chuck and Herc's relationship. She barely had a grip on her own relationship with them!

Addie had tried to fix their relationship like she fixed up Striker Eureka. She saw there was a problem, believed she understood what was causing it, and tried to apply a solution. But people were so much more complicated than machinery; if a fix didn't work, relationships could fall further apart as a result.

The engineer laid back, digging the heels of her palms into her eyes, aggravated by her traitorous brain. Physical and emotional exhaustion, combined with the warmth of the sun, allowed Addie to let go momentarily and doze off. She was startled awake by a deafening crack, followed by the unmistakable roar of a Kaiju.

* * *

Chuck woke up to a pounding in his head and a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. He felt like a piece of shit, but he knew he deserved to feel like a piece of shit that morning. He had been such an ass to Addie. Why couldn't he ever think before opening his stupid mouth around her? He rolled out of bed and poured himself a tall glass of water, and then another.

Pushing through the headache and slight nausea, Chuck headed to the Kwoon. He decided to forgo breakfast, the thought of food made him nauseous. He also wanted to avoid any interactions with people, specifically his old man. It would be too hard today, guilt from two fronts eating at him. A workout was his best cure for a hangover, and a good way to keep his mind off the disaster that was the previous day.

Walking up to the edge of the mat, Chuck sat down and pulled off his boots. He started with meditation, breathing exercises while sitting in the center of the mat. It didn't help, there was too much in his head. He kept seeing the tears in Addie's eyes, the disappointed look on his father's face, and remembering what his father told him in front of his mother's grave.

" _Pentecost wants to strap a bomb to Striker Eureka and make a run on the Breach."_

Chuck let out a furious shout as he punched the floor. That was the real reason he had been so upset last night, it had almost nothing to do with Addie, and everything to do with his father volunteering him for a suicide mission. He needed to move, needed to vent his frustration.

Standing, Chuck moved to the rack on the far wall and grabbed a staff. He hadn't practiced with one in a while, it would force him to focus more on his form and less on his thoughts. He moved back to the center of the mat, stood in kendo ready position for the length of a breath, and started going through the movements. He knew his form was sloppy, but with each strike at his imaginary opponent he felt a little better.

When the staff was slick in his hands from sweat, he put it back on the rack. Pulling off his shirt, Chuck used it to wipe his face before throwing it down next to his boots. Coming back to the mat, Chuck stood in one corner, facing down his, still imaginary, opponent. He shifted slightly to his right before launching into a series of kicks and punches, shouting with each blow.

As he turned to execute an elbow strike, pouring all his rage into it, Chuck could have sworn he saw a flash of dark hair whip around the corner. He stumbled and stopped mid-shout at what could only be described as a squeak. He knew it was Addie, he didn't know how, but he knew she was hiding on the other side of the wall. He stood staring at the entrance, waiting for her to come out and make herself known.

After waiting for more than minute, Chuck sighed and resumed his workout.

He was just finishing up when his father ran in looking alarmed.

"Chuck, you need to come with me, it's urgent!" His father's tone brooked no argument. The only thing that got his father this worked up was a Kaiju. Shoving his feet into his boots and picking up his shirt, Chuck followed his father back out.

"What's the category?" Chuck asked, pulling on his shirt as they walked.

"Category 4, codenamed Mutavore, headed straight for Sydney." There was something about Herc's tone he didn't like, but he pushed his mistrust aside. There were more important matters to deal with than their issues with each other.

"Alright, how far out is it? Are we going after it, or holding the Miracle Mile?"

* * *

Herc hated the words about to come out of his mouth, he knew what his son's reaction would be, but orders were orders. He must have been silent too long because Chuck stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Dad, are we attacking or defending?" He was always no-nonsense and straight to the point when there was a Kaiju on the way. It's part of what made him such a great ranger. It was how he behaved afterward that was the problem.

"It's nearly made it to the wall already. Our LOCCENT's shut down, and they didn't think to alert us until they were sure it was headed for Sydney, the bunch of pricks. We've been ordered to sit tight. No deployment." A kaleidoscope of emotions ran across Chuck's face, running from shock to rage in a fraction of a second.

"Why the hell not?!"

"They say we've been decommissioned, it's not our place to fight, it'll be the first test of the efficacy of the Coastal Wall." Herc could see the veins standing out on his son's neck and forehead, flushing red in anger. He stood there, fists clenching and unclenching, looking for all the world like he wanted to punch Herc's lights out.

"That wall isn't gonna do a damn thing against a Cat 4! Did you even argue with them, Old Man?" Herc gave him a look, and, grabbing him by the shoulder, dragged him down the hall. God, his son was such a pain in the arse.

"Bloody oath, I argued with them! And don't call me that!" He growled back. "But they don't even listen to Stacker anymore, let alone me! They're just a bunch of suits and ties; bureaucrats living their safe little lives in the interior." He stopped walking when they were in front of Chuck's room and shoved him towards the door.

"Now, take a damn shower, I can't have you smelling like that in the Conn-Pod. When you're done, meet me in the Drivesuit room to get kitted up." His son looked confused and enraged for a moment, but then understanding dawned.

"I don't believe for a damn second that wall will actually hold against a Category 4. Move your arse, boy!" Chuck glared but nodded as he disappeared into his room.

Forty-five minutes later, both he and Chuck were in their Drivesuits and walking into Striker Eureka's Conn-Pod.

"It's gonna be a difficult time in my head today, still got a bit of hangover." Chuck said as they pulled on their helmets and strapped into the rigs, listening to Striker's AI starting up. The voice counted down to the initiation of the neural bridge.

Memories streamed through their heads. Moments from Chuck's childhood with Angela, Little Phryne, and Laura. That horrible helicopter ride from Sydney. All the Kaiju they've fought together. Their argument at the cemetery. Chuck's fight with Addie last night.

" _Neural handshake at 90%_."

No matter how many times Herc entered the Drift, it always took a moment to get used to the feeling. He was still himself, mostly autonomous, but there was extra. They could move and act as one unit in a fight, without the need to speak aloud. There were all his son's thoughts and feelings as well. Speaking of his son, how much did he drink last night?!

"We're gonna have a talk, you and I." Herc said as they moved through the calibration process.

"Yeah, I know we are, Old Man, I'm in your head. But right now, there's a Kaiju we gotta stop from destroying our city."

* * *

Addie stood on the heli-pad, a pair of binoculars dangling from a strap around her wrist. She watched stricken with terror, as across the bay the Kaiju broke through the Coastal Wall. She had never believed that it would stop a Kaiju, but it was another matter entirely to watch it fall. Months, years, of hard labor gone to waste in under an hour, as the Category 4 burst through with a roar of triumph.

As petty as it seemed in the moment, she was glad that it bypassed the Sydney Opera House. It was one of the few beautiful places left untouched on the Pacific Rim, and she wanted to go at least once in her life. The problem was it then went straight for the heart of the city, the most heavily populated area. The evacuation sirens only started sounding when it broke through the wall, there were still too many people on the streets!

"Miss, I need you to go inside!" A man came up behind her, dragging her by the arm back into the Shatterdome. The PPDC Strike Force were scrambling; getting tow cables set.

"Tow cables?" She muttered under her breath, "Why are they getting tow cables?" Her question was answered when she heard the familiar rumbling of a Jaeger bay roof opening. Striker Eureka was being deployed! At that thought she ran for the nearest TV screen, they should have the news feeds going. Her view of the fight would be blocked by all the buildings in the city center.

She spent the next half hour terrified for Chuck and Herc, cringing at every blow the Kaiju got in and at every spray of Kaiju Blue. Addie knew that they were the best Rangers, they had taken down nine Kaiju together, but she was always nervous when they fought. She felt different about it this time though, she hadn't spoken to either of them that day. Her last words to Chuck had been cold and empty. She knew he had deserved them, but it was not how she would have chosen to send him off to fight.

When the Kaiju fell after they fired the K-Stunners, she breathed a sigh of relief.

She heard over the intercom that Striker was going to be transported directly to Hong Kong, so Addie went to her room to start packing her stuff. She turned the news on, more for background sound than any real want to watch it. They kept replaying the Kaiju breaking through the wall, and the fight between it and Striker commenting on how it was ironic that the Jaeger had been decommissioned the day before.

"In my opinion, the Jaeger program was brought down by mediocre pilots." Addie's head whipped up as she heard Chuck's voice from the TV. He was such a cocky asshole right after a Kaiju fight, all that adrenaline and the glory went straight to his head. She was tempted to turn it off, but Chuck ended the interview early by shoving past the camera guy, and all the reporters. He liked to be the best, but he didn't know how to deal with the attention that garnered him.

* * *

 _1 January 2025_  
 _1600 hours_

The conversation with his father had been much easier than he had thought it would be. They were 'Ghost-Drifting' and he had agreed with his father that he needed to apologize for once. For the second time in less than 24 hours, Chuck stood in front of Addie's door. It was open, but he knocked anyway.

"Addie? It's Chuck Hansen. Can I come in?" He didn't know why he said that, she bloody knew who he was.

"Addie isn't in right now, but if you leave a message she'll get back to you never." Her voice had that high, polite pitch, but it was dripping with sarcasm.

"Alright, I deserved that, but I really need to talk to you. Can I come in?" There was silence for a moment, then he heard footsteps, and the door opened. Her hair was covering her face again, and Chuck had the sudden urge to tuck it behind her ear. Before he could decide whether that was insane, she started speaking.

"Look," she tucked the hair back and a piece of him was disappointed, "I'm still upset, and I don't want to talk, okay?"

"But, I just want to talk for a minute! C'mon, Addie, give a guy a break! I just fought a Kaiju for Chrissake's!" She looked at him for a bit, seeming to take in his Drivesuit for the first time, the new mark on the right breastplate to indicate his tenth Kaiju kill. He felt a smirk cross his face as her eyes lingered on it. A soft smile formed at the corners of her mouth, for just a second.

"I'm really glad that you and your father are alright, and proud of you both." She looked back up to meet his gaze. "But saving a city of more than four million people does not excuse what you said."

"But Addie, I ju-"

"I'm going to finish packing. Maybe we'll talk in Hong Kong." Then she slammed the door in his face, again.

He felt a sense of deja vu as he walked back to his room, only this time he was kind of pissed. He knew that he had effed up the night before, but he just wanted to apologize. He wanted to get back to that place they had been all week, where they were sort of friends again, like when they were kids. Maybe the flight to Hong Kong would give her time to cool down.

* * *

 _I h_ _ope you like it! Good? Bad? Somewhere in between? Let me know :)_ _I would especially love feedback about Phryne/Addie, and whether she seems like a believable character._


	3. Chapter II: Welcome to Hong Hong

_A/N: **I AM SO SORRY!** I'll explain myself below. For now, I'll just let you read this gloriously **long** chapter._

 _One thing first, there are two scenes in this chapter that are deleted scenes from the movie, altered to fit Addie into them. If you know which ones they are, good on ya. If not, you can either ask me, or look up the deleted scenes on Youtube or the disc if you have it._

 _I own nothing pertaining to_ Pacific Rim _, or the song_ I Will Wait _by Mumford & Sons._ _The only thing I own are my (kinda) dearly crafted OC's._

 ** _Edited:_** _7/12/18_

 _ **Edit: 5/31/18:**_ _Chap III is really in the works, 'bout half done, maybe a little less, but it's probably going to be longer than this one._

* * *

 _ **Chapter II:**_ _Welcome to Hong Kong, Miss Fisher_

 _2 January 2025  
0400 hours (HK)_

Chuck sat in a slightly confused state, a sleeping Addie snoring lightly into his shoulder. He could hear the music coming from her headphones and chuckled when he recognized what it was. _I Will Wait_ by Mumford  & Sons. An image of her and her mother dancing around their kitchen came into his mind.

How he had ended up in this situation was not ideal, but he wasn't gonna to complain. He would take what he could get from her just then.

About half an hour ago, when they were nearly halfway to Hong Kong, Chuck sat on one side of the plane, keeping a hand on Max, while Addie was next to his dad on the other. However, Herc always liked to spend some time in the cockpit whenever they flew, for old time's sake. It was usually around half-way on a long flight, to keep himself occupied. He stood up, stretched and looked at Chuck.

"I'm gonna give one of those poor bastards a break. Keep an eye on her, would ya?" His old man nodded his head at Addie, who was dozing, before heading up front.

A couple of minutes later, the co-pilot came into the back, and when he saw the empty space next to Addie, a gleam entered his eyes. Chuck recognized him as one of the Strike Team pilots with a reputation for being a womanizer. He'd overheard him bragging about 'conquests' on more than one occasion.

What was his name? Didn't matter, he was moving towards Addie.

The Ranger quickly stood up, crossed the plane and sat down next to her. Folding his arms, Chuck glared at the man, daring him to start something. Max growled as the man walked past, low and menacing.

As soon as Cooper— _that was his name!_ —was safely past, Chuck looked down at the girl next to him. Addie had fallen asleep, unaware of everything going on around her. He smirked at the way her glasses had slipped down her nose, and was tempted to take them off for her. Or tuck her ridiculously dark hair behind her ear.

Just as he was deciding whether to do it, her head lolled and fell onto his shoulder. Chuck froze, unsure what to do. He knew that if he stayed and she woke up and found him there, she would be pissed at him for 'not giving her space'. On the other hand, if he moved, she would _definitely_ wake up. He was conflicted about the best course of action.

At the same time, a part of him relaxed with her there, sitting next to him, leaning on him.

For the preceding four and a half hours on the plane, she had been completely silent, not even talking to his father, and barely acknowledging Max. That had made him a little concerned, on top of his annoyance at her. He didn't even know why he was annoyed that she wasn't talking to them.

That wasn't true, he knew exactly why it bothered him.

She was always there, in the background, or talking to his dad. Then there was the last week that he had spent almost entirely alone with her, trying to see that fire in her eyes again. He had gotten used to her presence. And even with her sitting right in front of him, it was like she hadn't been there at all.

Chuck looked down as she shifted again, and her eyes fluttered open for a moment. That was it. She was gonna wake up, see it was him and then never speak to him again.

"Sorry 'bout that, Uncle Herc." Chuck almost choked in relief. She thought he was his old man! Though being relieved about that gave him a strange feeling.

"It's alright, Add—er, Phryne." The name felt strange on his tongue, but his father never called her Addie.

"Just, uh, just go back to sleep." She nodded, resting her head back on his shoulder. Chuck hadn't called her that since they were kids, and the feeling he got from using it was odd, yet somehow still familiar. It gave him a pleasant sensation, like they were sharing a secret.

He felt a smile creep over his face as she settled down, carefully buckling himself in. The Ranger just felt more at home and relaxed whenever he was around her. The more time he spent with her lately, the more he wanted to hold onto that feeling. Letting his head rest on top of hers, Chuck felt all the building tension just melt away.

As he felt sleep start to claim him, he relaxed more than he had in years. In that moment, Chuck wouldn't move, even if the world was ending.

 _B_ _ecause_ the world was ending.

* * *

With an hour and a half left in the flight, Herc called Cooper back to the cockpit. He wanted to get at least a half-hour's worth of shut-eye before they landed in Hong Kong. Max made a sound somewhere between a whine and a bark in greeting and Herc noticed the dog was sitting by himself. Where was Chuck? He looked over to the other side where Little Phryne was.

Chuck was in Herc's seat, next to her.

Not only that, but the two of them were resting their heads on each other. Sitting down next to the dog, Herc examined his son's face. It was the most peaceful he had seen Chuck since Angela died, bar one instance.

Herc smiled, remembering a photo Laura had taken when he had still been at the Academy with Scott. It was of the two kids in the back seat of a car, asleep and leaning on each other. He remembered wanting to show it to Angela, to let her know that their son was alright.

It warmed him to see them both so relaxed and content. Patting Max on the head, Herc buckled into his new seat and settled down for a quick kip.

There was a bit of turbulence a half hour later. Herc and Chuck both shot upright, always light sleepers in case the Kaiju alert went off while they slept. His son looked around blearily for a moment then down at Phryne, eyes wide with panic. She was still sleeping, and Herc chuckled as he saw the boy sigh in relief. Chuck must have heard, because he turned to face him. Panic, anger and relief vied for control of Chuck's expression before relief won out.

"Dad, can you come here and take my place?" He whispered across, and Herc's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Why would you want me to do that?" The young man gave him an angry look, like he didn't want to have to explain. Herc just raised an eyebrow at him.

"She's still not talking to me. She'll be even angrier if she wakes up and I'm the one sitting next to her." He hissed through clenched teeth, trying not to shout while unbuckling himself.

"If she's still angry, then why were you there in the first place?"

"Because Cooper is a womanizing arsehole, that's why!" That explained why Cooper had looked like someone spit in his food.

"Now, would you just come over 'ere?" He was carefully lifting Little Phryne's head from his shoulder and shifting to stand. Herc gave in and crossed the space to sit where Chuck had just vacated. His son could be such a pain sometimes.

Just as Chuck took his hands away from her and Herc was buckled in, Phryne started to move. She yawned, stretched and opened her eyes; Chuck barely made it to his seat in time.

"Sorry again, Herc." _Again? Oh, now I see why Chuck was so worried._ Raising an eyebrow, Herc looked over at his son, who was giving him a look that screamed, ' _Don't you_ _say one damn word about it!_ '

Turning back to Phryne, and trying to contain his laughter, Herc said, "Not a problem, Sweet-Pea. How'd you sleep?"

* * *

 _2 January 2025  
1800 hours_

It was her heaven! There were three Jaegers in the Hong Kong Shatterdome, and a fourth set to return from maneuvers any minute!

Besides Striker, there was the local Jaeger, Crimson Typhoon, piloted by the Wei Tang Triplets. It had a triple-rig Conn-Pod, and three arms—each equipped with a circular saw-blade in the hand. They had successfully defended Hong Kong seven times from Kaiju attacks. All Addie wanted was to figure out how they worked the third person and arm into a right-left hemisphere control.

Cherno Alpha was the Jaeger just coming in, the last of the T-90's. It was the oldest Jaeger still in active service, the only Mark-I left intact. Addie peeked around Striker and watched them roll it in. It was heavy, ancient looking, and downright clunky, but it also looked like a brutal, Kaiju-killing machine. The Kaidonovskys had been running him for the last six years, and the wall had been completed without incident under their watch.

Last, but most certainly not least, was Gipsy Danger. Addie hadn't gone to see it yet, it being in a different hangar than the others, and still undergoing final repairs. It had been pulled out of Oblivion Bay almost two years ago to start reconstruction in Anchorage under the Mark-III Restoration Project. It was moved to Hong Kong when the Alaska Shatterdome was shut down in October.

Addie was beside herself with joy! Or she would be if there wasn't a pouting Ranger constantly staring at her. Chuck had blessedly left her alone to sleep for the latter half of the flight, as much as one can sleep on a military transport.

She had gone to her bunk just to get away from him—the additional sleep was a bonus. But almost as soon as Addie came back from her nap to get started on repairs, he was right there, in her space. It was like the last week all over again, only this time she didn't like the attention. She just wanted him to leave her alone.

For some reason, Chuck was back in his Drivesuit. Addie was burning to ask why, but that would mean giving in and talking to him. So, she planned to get on one of the higher rigs to work on Striker's arm. She could feel his eyes on her the whole time she was sorting through the boxes for her tool kit. It was somewhat unnerving at first and quickly progressed towards annoying. Whenever she glanced at him, though, she could see his eyes were soft, almost apologetic.

"Herc! Chuck! Gentlemen, welcome to Hong Kong!" It sounded like Marshal Pentecost calling them, which meant she was going to have an opportunity to get some work done. But she heard another voice call out over the din.

"Max!" The voice was high and feminine, and Addie recognized it instantly. She looked up and saw her friend, Mako Mori, with Marshal Pentecost and a blond man that Addie vaguely recognized. The bulldog gave a happy bark, pulling on his leash as Herc told Chuck to wait by their stuff. She followed behind Herc, wanting to speak to her friend.

The end of Mako's training at the Academy had overlapped with Addie's first and only trimester there. They had bonded over their love for Gipsy Danger, which had been Addie's favorite Jaeger before she started working on Striker Eureka. They had kept up contact after Addie left, and she even had a small hand in helping Mako with the Mark-III Restoration project. And Addie's talks with Mako were the reason that Striker now had a pair of lovely eject capsules out the back of the Conn-Pod.

Mako was kneeling on the floor, petting Max. Addie decided to join her down there, completely avoiding the stranger that the Marshal was introducing to Herc. Tapping her friend on the shoulder, Addie pulled the small, Japanese girl into a hug.

" _I'm so happy to see you, Mako-chan_." She greeted her friend in slightly informal Japanese.

" _I am pleased to finally see you in person as well, my friend_." Mako responded in a more formal manner. "It really has been too long, I'm glad that Max even remembers me." She smiled looking down at the dog, and for a couple moments they both devolved into that high-pitched nonsense language girls use when talking to pets.

"I haven't had a chance to look in on Gipsy yet. I crashed in my bunk as soon as someone showed me where it was. I only got up about an hour ago," Addie admitted sheepishly, as they both stood up.

"You can come with me and Mr. Becket then. I was going to bring him there next since the Marshal and Mr. Hansen have a meeting with the K-Science division." Mako replied, straightening the papers on her clipboard.

"Mr. Becket? As in Raleigh Becket?" Addie asked, incredulous. Mako nodded her head in the direction of the blond man talking with Herc. Now that Addie looked at him more closely she did recognize him. She felt her ears go red, ashamed at having not realized before. She was a little giddy, hoping to introduce herself to him. But Addie felt like she'd been punched in the gut when she heard what the Marshal said next.

"We're going to strap a 2,400-pound thermonuclear warhead to Striker Eureka's back."

She looked over at Herc, who nodded and looked away. If he knew about it, then Chuck knew too.

 _And he hadn't said anything?!_ Or rather, she hadn't let him say anything.

 _Was that what he and Herc had argued about on New Year's?_

She had half a mind to walk back and ask him, but that would mean talking to him, which he would take as forgiveness. Addie wasn't ready for that just yet. She could still hear his words ringing in her ears.

"Ah, Miss Fisher," Addie jerked her head up to look at the Marshal. "I hope I wasn't wrong when I assigned you to Striker Eureka?"

"No, sir. It's been an honor, sir." She looked at him with a smile. "Though I'm pretty sure Herc had a little something to do with bringing me to your attention."

Marshal Pentecost chuckled and smiled, leading Herc away, and Raleigh excused himself to Mako, shouting after the men. The girls followed at a distance, Max sticking close to Addie. Once Herc and the Marshal had left, Mako stepped up to Raleigh.

"Mr. Becket? This is Jaeger Engineer Phryne Addisyn Fisher. She is a Senior Engineer for Striker Eureka." He turned to face her, his expression clearing as he held out a hand to Addie.

"Raleigh Becket. Nice to meet you, Frinney." Addie winced at the mispronunciation of her name. It wasn't entirely his fault, Mako's accent made it hard to understand. She swore to elbow Mako in the ribs when Raleigh wasn't looking for using her full name.

"It's Addisyn, or just Addie, if you like." She gave a nervous chuckle, going all pink, and lapsed awkwardly into silence. Raleigh laughed, and tried to pull his hand away, which she noticed she hadn't let go. She immediately dropped it like it was a hot iron and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her coveralls.

"That's just like my kid sister. She goes by Jazmine, with a 'Z', instead of her first name." He had a charming smile, and Addie could finally reconcile the haggard, construction worker with the cocky Ranger in the interviews she used to watch, repeatedly.

She felt herself go a little pink in the face, just a touch star-struck. Which was odd, considering she worked with Rangers and Jaegers every day. But then, she's known Herc and Chuck all her life, she would hardly get star-struck while working with them.

Just… love-struck. She fell into a melancholy silence with that thought.

"She'll be joining us to see your Jaeger." Mako's voice brought her out of the reverie and she sharply turned her head back to the small Japanese girl. "I consulted with her for some of the restorations and she is very eager to see them in person." Mako gestured for them to follow her. Raleigh asked a question, but a voice rang out distracting Addie from hearing what it was.

"Max! Come here!" Addie stopped and turned, glancing back at hearing Chuck.

She watched the dog run back to his owner, wanting to make sure he got there okay. Her eyes met Chuck's for just a moment, the urge to relent and ]talk to him stronger than ever. But then he looked away and glared behind her. Turning to look at the object of his dislike, Addie saw Raleigh return the glare with a disapproving look of his own before following Mako.

Addie followed as well but kept a step behind them. Once Raleigh and Mako started talking, she felt like a third wheel.

* * *

 _3 January 2025  
0800 hours_

Watching the physical compatibility testing, Chuck had to admit that Raleigh had maintained himself well over the last five years. He must have kept up with his martial arts training, because he was kicking all the candidates' asses. The blond could even prove a fun challenge to himself. He was starting to regret most of what he had said at dinner the previous night.

 _Chuck sat next to Addie at one of the tables in the mess hall, waiting for his dad to get back with the last of the food. It was slightly awkward with her, because she had stopped shunning his dad and Max, but still wasn't talking to him. This was a step above ignoring his existence entirely, so that was a plus._

 _She was facing him on the bench, or at least his general direction. Max was sitting between them and she was giving bits off her plate to the bulldog. He wanted to tell her to stop spoiling him, but he knew it would come out more like a command and less like the joke it had become between them._

" _There's plenty of room at our table." Chuck looked up at his dad's voice to see him leading the Mark-III Jaeger Pilot to sit with them. Glaring daggers at the blond man, he helped Max down onto the floor. Looking back up at Addie, the ginger saw her smiling and talking to Raleigh, along with his dad._

 _ **That's it!**_ _He thought angrily._ _ **Time for them to understand just how much of a has-been he is.**_

 _Chuck cut off his dad's introduction, making it clear who was whose co-pilot. He then started with seemingly polite enquiries while picking at his plate nonchalantly._

 _What's Raleigh been up to? The last time he piloted? Then getting sarcastic about how much help he'd be after said man responded with 'Construction.' Receiving glares from his dad, and kicks in the shin from Addie all the while. It boiled down to revealing that Raleigh was just a has-been, construction worker who was not worthy of all the attention, praise and effort put into bringing him there._

" _You slow me down," he said throwing on his hat and standing, "I'll drop you like a sack of Kaiju shit." He winked, clicked his tongue, smirked one last time, and walked way, satisfied with a job well done._

 _Just as he was about to call Max, there was a clattering of silverware against tray. Chuck prepared himself for an attack from the blonde bastard. He expected a large hand on his shoulder to spin him around with a fist coming at his face. He was already thinking through his counter-move, but what the ginger got was a much smaller shoulder knocking into his arm._

" _Stop being such a self-centered prick." He watched Addie walk away, Max following her with a whine after looking back at Chuck. He knew that he had screwed up, again. He couldn't even blame it on being drunk this time._

"Three points to two." Mako's slightly annoyed voice brought Chuck back to the present. Raleigh had his opponent flat on the mat, staff aimed at his throat.

Chuck stood at the back of the crowd and smirked as Mako ripped apart the blonde's bouts. When Raleigh asked to fight her, he saw her give the Marshal what could only be a described as a puppy-dog stare, and chuckled, shaking his head. His smile vanished when he saw the Marshal give her consent. He settled in to watch the two of them, a rookie and a has-been, as they squared off.

It was a good fight to watch if you knew what was really going on, the true purpose for the fight. Starting off slowly, each of them underestimating the other at first, and getting to know their respective styles. As it picked up, Chuck was reminded of his own physical compatibility test with his father. It had been the same slow start but evolving into something that felt almost choreographed.

As they shouted, and their weapons clacked noisily with each other, Chuck couldn't help but feel there was something different, something extra between these two. Like their souls were calling out to each other, or whatever, in a totally different way than his and his father's. It still felt familiar, though Chuck couldn't place why. As the fight finished, with Mako getting the last point by pinning Raleigh to the mat, he realized what it was.

It reminded him of that first fight he and Addie had a couple weeks ago. When he realized that he wanted to see more fire in her eyes, and really, just more of her.

Marshal Pentecost called the match, cutting through Chuck's thoughts, stating that the co-pilot candidate would be selected and announced at the time of the Drift-Sync test later that week. Mako helped Raleigh up and the blond said there was no need to wait, he wanted Mako as his co-pilot.

 _Well, that was obvious._ Chuck thought. _Anyone with any kind of Drift experience could see that they were compatible. Besides, she was the only one who could keep up with him._

"No, Mr. Becket, she will not." Mako started to protest, but the Marshal shut her down with a word and a look.

Chuck was a little shocked at that decision. He didn't like Raleigh, at all, but Mako was clearly the only candidate who had any real Drift compatibility. Besides, she and Addie were friends and he wouldn't hear the end of it if Mako didn't get picked. Or at least that's what would've happened if she was still talking to him…

As the crowd around him dispersed, Chuck looked over to see Raleigh watching Mako run out past him. Their gazes locked, and while he wanted to be smug about the blonde getting snubbed by the Marshal, he just felt pity and confusion. Addie's voice popped into his head, telling him to ' _stop being a prick._ ' He briefly contemplated going over and saying something to Raleigh, but the man just brushed right past him after shoving boots on his feet. Most likely, he was running after Mako.

After seeing the two of them fight together, and how they looked at one another, Chuck felt like an absolute idiot for being jealous of him.

That word ground his thoughts to a screeching halt.

 _Jealous?_ _Is that really what it had been?_

He thought back over the last day and realized that yes, that was exactly what it had been. It wasn't because Raleigh wasn't worth the effort or praise, or at least not only because of it. Addie had paid attention to the Mark-III pilot when she had been completely ignoring him, Chuck. Even blushed, quite prettily, when Raleigh had talked to her. That gave the ginger something to think about, and he decided to stick around the Kwoon for a little longer and work-out his feelings.

* * *

Raleigh stared at Mako's now closed door, frustrated at her response to his appeal. He disappointedly walked back to his own door, though he chuckled a little at the memory of her flustered face upon realizing she was trying to open his door. Which made him think of when he had caught her staring at him when he came out of the shower. It had been cute, but he was dwelling on it longer than he thought he should.

It brought to mind the talk he had with Herc at dinner the previous night.

 _Raleigh was tempted to get up and take a swing, but only a small part of him. He would take the high road._ _Besides, Chuck reminded him a little of himself from five years ago._ _Cocky, assured that he was the best. He was too good, too young, and he knew it._

 _He looked up when he heard Addie's tray screech across the table, a slightly murderous look on her face. She got up, the bull dog following with a whine, and bumped into the ginger-bastard. He started to get up, thinking he was going to have to defend her from him, when Herc put a hand on his shoulder._

 _He looked at the older man, incredulous. Then Raleigh looked over to see Chuck's shoulders had dropped, all his confident swagger gone, as he watched the girl make a right out in the hallway._

" _You can mostly blame me for that one." Herc said as Raleigh sat back down. "Smart kid, but I never knew whether to give him a hug or a kick in the arse." The older ranger went back to eating his potatoes, a grumpy look on his face._

" _With respect, sir, I think I know which one he needs." They ate in silence for a couple minutes, before Raleigh realized what was nagging him._

" _Mostly blame?" He shoveled another bite of food in his mouth. It had been a long time since he seen a lot of what was on his plate._

" _Huh? Oh, Little Phryne and my son are having a lover's quarrel, of sorts." Raleigh raised an eyebrow, asking him to go on while he chewed._

" _He said something stupid while he was drunk and it hit her hard." He paused, a hurt expression passing over his face. "Her mum and my wife were best friends see? So, Phryne and Chuck practically grew up together. I'm pretty sure she's been in love with my son since they were kids, but he's only just realizing he cares about her that way. The idiot."_

" _I'm assuming most of this was picked up in the Drift? He doesn't strike me as the type to tell you any of that outright." Raleigh asked, spinning his fork through his fingers. A habit he'd picked up back in high school, starting with pencils, and then with anything else he could get his hands on. At the peak of his career as a Pilot, he'd even been able to do it with a training staff._

" _Bloody oath, no!" Herc said with half a laugh. "Of course, he didn't. But she pops up in the Drift between us more than can really be accounted for from just me. Their fight happened New Year's Eve, right after the party, and my son was properly smashed. Mutavore attacked Sydney the next morning, as you know."_

" _Must have been a fun Drift." Raleigh said wryly._

" _Well, we've had worse, and we got the job done." Herc sat thoughtfully in silence for a moment. "We had a good talk afterwards. Ghost-drifting really helps with that. Though, she was still pretty upset, wouldn't talk to him, or anyone else, all day yesterday and most of today."_

Raleigh sighed as he undressed to get in the shower. Thoughts whirling around in his head about so many different things. Hopefully the hot water would help clear his head. Or perhaps a cold shower would be better…

* * *

 _4 January 2025  
0500 hours_

Mako was sitting lotus style in the Kwoon, her back to the entrance-way. The sky had not even begun to lighten when she first arrived, but it was the only time that the Shatterdome was quiet enough. She needed to contemplate on several subjects. At the top of that list was Mr. Raleigh Becket, closely followed by why Marshal Pentecost was not allowing her to co-pilot Gipsy Danger.

She had been meditating for about an hour when she heard the quiet, but deliberate steps coming her way. Turning to look over her shoulder, she saw Addie walk in.

" _Good morning, Addie_." She greeted in Japanese, while twisting to face her friend completely.

"Oh, Mako. I didn't think anyone else would be in here this early." Her friend went straight to the corner of the mat and started taking off her boots. "I know Herc and Chuck like to spar in the morning, but they usually do it right before breakfast. To 'work up an appetite'." Addie made finger quotes, while rolling her eyes.

"Like those men need to work up an appetite." Mako commented. Addie smiled back, giggling lightly. She sat down across from Mako, in the same fashion, before taking off her glasses and closing her eyes.

The two girls meditated for roughly half an hour, until Addie broke the silence.

"Mako, can I ask you a question?" She hummed a response. "Well, it's more a favor than a question, really." Mako opened one eye after her friend's nervous chuckle. Seeing the pleading expression, she opened both eyes and shifted to sit seiza.

"What is wrong, Addie? You seem… on edge." Addie's posture was rigid, and she kept clenching and unclenching her jaw. Mako laid a hand over the Aussie girl's fidgeting ones and looked her calmly in the eye. "Tell me."

"Willyouhelpmetrainagain?" It came out so fast Mako barely understood the question. Then Addie just kept going. "I know that I can't fight, or get in a Jaeger, or be useful as anything but a glorified mechanic, but I'm strong and capable and I'm a good student and-"

"Stop, Addie. Take a breath. In. Out. Good. Now, try asking me again, only this time, remember to breathe." She smiled to reassure her friend, and Addie chuckled at herself, shifting to sit on her knees as well. Mako had heard the 'glorified mechanic' comment and had seen the expression that came with it. She would ask about it later.

"I want to try martial arts again. I think I know how to get around my depth perception issue." Excitement briefly lit her face and left just as quickly. "I'm not going to be much good against an actual opponent, but sometimes I miss the discipline that came with practicing." She sighed, looking away and muttering something under her breath that Mako couldn't quite catch. She decided not to press, her friend was already agitated enough.

"There's still a few instructors here, would you not rather have them help you? I don't think I would be a good teacher." Addie's head shot back up.

"No, I'd prefer a friend over someone I don't know." Her expression became hopeful.

"Then what about either of the Hansens?"

"Herc is so busy planning everything with the Marshal, I don't want to bother him. And Chuck…" Her expression faltered slightly, and Addie looked away again. "Besides, I don't need to be taught, so much as coached. Someone there to make sure I'm keeping form and don't hurt myself."

Mako thought it over for a few moments before nodding her head in ascent.

"Thank you so much!" Addie bowed, her head touching the floor for an instant, then she launched herself at Mako. "You have no idea how much this will mean to me!"

"I'm certain I won't if you keep crushing my lungs." Addie let go and sat back, still beaming. "Better. Now, it's too late to start this morning and have a full lesson. Why don't we head down for an early breakfast and you tell me your idea?"

Her friend's smile turned sheepish as they stood, and she pulled out a length of fabric from one of the many pockets of her coveralls.

* * *

 _4 January 2025  
1030 hours_

"How ya going, Little Phryne?" Herc said as he walked up the last steps to the cat walk. Her head whipped around so fast her braid smacked into her face. He couldn't help chuckling at that, she was so much like her mother.

"Herc! Jesus, you're almost as bad as Jimmy!" She smiled, but then her expression turned somber. She had always been close with that tall, silent bloke.

"You miss him?" The girl nodded, looking solemn. But then her face lit up with an idea.

"D'ya think there is any way that we can get him reassigned to Striker Eureka?" The hope in her eyes was almost too much for Herc to take. He took the last few steps and turned to lean back on the railing, not making eye contact. She went back to working when he didn't respond, an even more sour look on her face.

"Now don't make that face, Sweet-Pea. I know you miss your friend and you're upset about him being laid off but think about it like this. He has a husband and kid back in Sydney, right?"

"That's why he needs this job!" She turned to face him, still wielding her socket wrench. He held a hand up and stepped towards her, tempted to take the tool away from her.

"Okay, but how often did he work overnight on Striker? How often did they get to see him? How many nights do you think they waited up for him?" Addie's expression softened. "How was he going to see them when he's in Hong Kong? Move them here? Not only that, but this," Herc gestured around them indicating the Shatterdome. "This is about to be the most dangerous place on Earth. Would you want that for your friend?"

"No, I guess you're right. I was being selfish." She looked so downcast, Herc had to comfort her. He pulled her into a hug, and gently rocked her from side to side.

"It's okay, Little Phryne, it just means you're human." He sighed squeezing her just a bit tighter. " _I've_ been selfish, bringing you here. I promised your mother that I would keep you safe, and instead I..." His throat closed up, and he couldn't finish his thought.

He always felt like breaking a promise to Laura was breaking a promise with Angela. He already had enough guilt on that front. She squeezed him back, making Herc look down at her.

"But if you hadn't brought me here, you wouldn't have been able to make sure I was safe. Besides, you, Chuck and Max are the only family I have left. Not to mention Striker Eureka." She looked up at the massive Jaeger fondly.

"I would have stowed away in one of the cargo crates if you left me behind." He could hear the smile in her voice, knowing she was trying to make him feel better. Giving one last squeeze, making her squeak, Herc let her get back to work.

He stayed and chatted with her until lunch; discussing maintenance issues for Striker and trying to find some semblance of normalcy. He steered away from anything to do with Chuck. He couldn't handle another emotionally loaded conversation just then, especially if it had to do with his pain-in-the-ass of a son. And he completely ignored everything about Operation Pitfall, an act that could very well get every person she cared about killed.

* * *

 _7 January 2025  
2200 hours_

Addie yawned as she dragged the last cart of broken, but still valuable, equipment from Striker into the storage area. Normally she wouldn't have been so tired at this time of night, but she had been getting up before dawn the last three mornings to train with Mako. On top of that, the Chief Engineer had been driving them all harder than before, with only a third of his crew to work with. Every minute that wasn't spent eating, sleeping or training with Mako, she was working on Striker Eureka.

Just as she finished putting the last piece in the corner designated for Striker scrap, she heard a scuffle, muttered cursing, and, oddest of all, slightly maniacal laughter.

"Hello? Who's being suss in here?" The laughter stopped, and a head popped around one of the big pieces of equipment, followed by a body.

It was a man who looked to be in his 30's, only slightly taller than Addie, and wearing thick-framed glasses. He had a button-up shirt and tie, but the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and Addie could see tattoos of kaiju. There was a weird stain on one of the sleeves too, sort of... organic looking.

"What did you just call me?" His accent was American, and he sounded indignant. His face echoed the same sentiment.

"I said you were being suss." No change, she sighed. "Being suspicious." His expression cleared immediately.

"Oh. Well… I guess I was. It was the –uh– the crazed laughter, wasn't it?" He scratched the back of his head and fidgeted with his glasses. He looked about as sleep-deprived as Addie felt.

"Yeah, just a bit." Addie yawned again, covering her mouth. "What are you doing down here in the Jaeger scrap, anyway? Aren't you the Kaiju nerd from K-Science?" He looked ready to refute her, but shook his head moving on to the main point.

"I'm trying to build my own pons system." Addie cocked her head and asked him why. "It's to prove a point to my colleague. You see I—" She shrugged her shoulders, too tired to pay attention to what he was saying, and pointed him to the shelf that held the neural bridge gear. She held up her tablet, tapping the screen a few times.

"There's what's left of the head pieces from the old Drift compatibility testing unit. They scrapped it a few months ago according to the manifest. Nothing wrong with 'em, just weren't being used anymore, so they scavenged it for a few useful parts and put it here." Addie looked up at the Pons inspecting it for any major issues.

"So, it should work, right?" Newt asked coming up behind her and pulling them down off the shelf.

"Yeah, though they stripped the inhibitors. You'd get a bloody terrible headache and probably a nosebleed if you used it." Addie yawned again, putting her tablet back into its case dangling from her hip.

Newt just shrugged his shoulders, thanked her and dropped the equipment onto a trolley already covered in parts. He waved good-bye and started pulling the trolley away. Addie heard the wheels speed up, and maniacal laughter drifted back to her. Shaking her head, she locked up the gate and started the long trek back to her bunk.

* * *

 _8 January 2025  
0400 hours_

 _Chuck looked down as he pushed past the reporters surrounding him and his dad, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. He just wanted to get out of his Drivesuit and into a shower. It suddenly went quiet, and when he looked back up, all the reporters, Strike Team men, and the civilians were gone._

 _The city was a blasted, rubble-strewn landscape. Most of the buildings were barely standing, the rest had collapsed into heaps of concrete, steel and glass. Dust was still settling over empty, abandoned cars in the road. Visible a few blocks away, were the remains of a Kaiju; bluish plumes of smoke still rising from its corpse._

 _He knew where he was,_ when _he was. Downtown Sydney, right after Scissure's attack. Chuck was eleven years old again, in the t-shirt, hoodie, jeans and trainers he had worn that horrible day._

 _He started to run down the street, dodging over and under piles of broken concrete. He was running as fast as he could, but it took what seemed like hours to reach the building just two blocks away. It was mostly rubble, but he could see what looked like a person half-buried near the top of the heap. Somehow, he knew exactly who it was._

" _Mum!" His scream rang in the silence, echoing off the empty structures around him. Terror and hope flooded him in equal measure, giving him an extra burst of speed. He was scrambling over the wreckage, his hands struggling to find purchase in his haste to reach his mother._

" _Mum, please! Please be okay! I'm coming, Mum! I'm gonna get you out!" Tears were streaming down his face, making it even harder to climb his way up to her. It was interminable, Chuck thought he would never reach the top._

 _But suddenly, he was next to her, desperately calling out to her, begging her to be alive, to be okay. Chuck pulled and shoved at the debris trying to move as much out of the way as he could. He finally had enough space to maneuver her out, so he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled. He tumbled backwards, landing on his rear, but she was out! He looked up, expecting honey-blonde curls and his mum's favorite sweater, but instead there was a wave of brown hair—ridiculously dark brown hair—and grease-stained coveralls._

" _Phryne."_

 _Her name came out as a breath, and he sat there shocked for a moment, barely even realizing he was no longer eleven. Then Chuck leapt forward, his Drivesuit scraping against the rubble, pulling the girl into his arms._

" _Nononono, Addie! Wake up!" He brushed her hair out of her face, patted her cheek, shook her, all while calling her name, anything to get a reaction out of her._

" _It's your fault, Chuck." He whipped his head up to scream defiance at the accuser, only to come face to face with his mother. "It's your fault we died." Chuck looked down at the girl in his arms, shaking his head, trying to deny it. Her eyes were open, and hoped sparked in his chest, but her stare was dead. There was no life in her sea-glass green eyes._

" _All because of you, you self-centered prick."_

* * *

Chuck startled awake, breathing raggedly like he'd just run a marathon. He was drenched in sweat, and his sheet was twisted in his legs. He untangled himself and got up to get a glass of water, stepping over the still snoring bulldog lying next to his bed. After gulping down the first glass and pouring a second, he sat back down on his bunk. He took a sip of water and ran a hand over his face. Looking up at the clock, he cursed; it was just after four in the morning. One more sip of water and then he collapsed back onto his bed with a groan.

He'd had that dream about a thousand times after he'd become a Ranger. He knew every second of it, every _agonizing_ second. It had been nearly a year though, since he'd had it. He had finally thought he was past all that! And then Addie had been… The terror and panic that had gripped him when he'd seen her lying there instead of his mum.

What the hell did that mean, eh!? Did he actually—

Sitting up, the ginger shook his head, trying to derail that train of thought. Chuck didn't want to deal with the implications of that. He couldn't handle emotional revelations at four in the morning. The last one hadn't gone very well.

At least she didn't seem mad at him anymore. There were no glares or calling him a prick, but she had fallen back into her old manner of interacting with him. Hiding behind her hair whenever they were in the same room, not talking to him, and spending all her time working on Striker. She hadn't had dinner with them since that first night, had barely even spent any time with Max.

So, why was she in the dream now?

Closing his eyes and sighing, Chuck laid back down and tried to sleep.

 _Addie's lifeless, green eyes were staring back, accusing him. Her voice echoed inside his head, 'Your fault.'_

His eyes shot open and he bolted upright.

"Right, guess I'll just go workout then." Getting dressed quickly and finishing the glass of water, Chuck looked over at Max.

His dog was snoring on its back, one leg up in the air, twitching slightly. Max always started out on his dog bed, but through the night, he wriggles, shifts and slowly makes his way to the floor beside Chuck's bed. Somehow always managing to be exactly where Chuck puts his feet when getting out of bed.

He almost didn't have the heart to move the dog, but he'd wake up as soon as the door was opened anyway. It gave him an excuse to get out of the Shatterdome, anyway.

"C'mon, Max." The bulldog sprang up, after a moment of flailing, and trotted to his owner's side. Chuck patted the dog's head fondly. "Let's go for a run."

* * *

 _8 January 2025  
0900 hours_

Addie didn't show up to the Kwoon at their usual time of 0500. So, after meditating for another hour and still no sign, Mako proceeded to her friend's room to see if everything was alright. They bumped into each other in the hall and Addie apologized profusely for sleeping in. Seeing as it was already after six o'clock, they decided to grab an early breakfast and work on some of Mako's side projects in her room.

They had been sitting and tinkering on the floor-Addie had helped her piece together a mechanism that had been giving her a bit of trouble-when her Australian friend asked her an odd question.

"Mako?" She hummed a response. "What do you think of Mr. Becket?" Mako's head whipped up, wide-eyed and nervous.

"Wh-what do I think of him?" Addie nodded.

"I didn't get to go to the compatibility test, I still had so much work to do on Striker after the kaiju attack on New Year's. I've heard, from just about everybody who was there, that something happened between you two during the match. We never talked about it in our training sessions afterward, and I'm curious if your opinion has changed at all."

Addie's face was open and innocent, and she seemed to be asking purely out of curiosity. Seemed, being the operative word, her expression was a little too innocent. But there was no way for Mako to avoid the question without arousing suspicion—and it would allow her to ask one of her own.

"Well, I still think that he is too brash and disrespectful of authority. However, he is a much more competent fighter than I expected, and a good person. I thought he was being inefficient during his first bouts-he could have finished them all two moves sooner. But, I realized what he was trying to do after I fought with him; to draw them into a dialogue, a give and take. As it should be between co-pilots in a Jaeger, I think."

"And?" Addie leaned forward expectantly.

"And, what?"

"Did you feel anything when you were fighting? A connection, a spark, anything?" She leaned back, arms flailing in an attempt to encompass the ideas she was spouting.

"Yes, I think I did. Towards the end, it felt like I could almost anticipate what he was going to do next." Mako stared over Addie's shoulder as she spoke, her mind drifting back to the test, a smile slowly turning the corners of her mouth. But then she remembered the Marshal's expression when he had denied their plea. She shook her head.

"It does not matter, the Marshal has made his decision, and I must respect that."

"But-"

"No 'buts,' Miss Fisher. Now, I have answered two of your prying questions, may I ask one of my own?" Addie nodded, a touch apprehensively. "What happened between you and the younger Mr. Hansen?"

"Wha- What do you mean? Nothing happened. Nothing ever happens between me and Chuck. You know that Mako, how many times have I complained to you about that?" Addie looked off to one side, clearly avoiding eye contact to hide something.

"Exactly." Surprised at her friend's response, Addie tilted and pulled her head back, clearly confused. Mako continued, "You have yet to bring him up once in all our talks together. Now, tell me what happened in the last few weeks."

Her friend sighed, rubbing her face. "It's a long story."

"Summarize it then." Addie rolled her eyes, giving in.

"We had a fight, or more I yelled at him to 'get a reality check'. Then he was following me around and hanging out with me for about a week, and it was like we were friends again, like when we were kids. It was nice." A small, fond smile lit up her face for an instant, but it just as quickly vanished.

"So, I told him to talk to his dad more, but that blew up in my face. He came back New Year's Eve, drunk off his arse mind you, and said he wanted to have it out with me. Blaming me for meddling in their affairs, and what do I know about being a Jaeger pilot, or him and his dad, I'm just a-"

"A glorified mechanic…" Mako finished the sentence for her, and Addie's eyes clouded with confusion. "You said that when you asked me to train you." Mako supplied and Addie nodded, taking a moment before continuing.

"So, I told him I didn't want to see him and slammed the door in his face. The next morning, the whole Sydney Shatterdome knew, what was left of it anyway, thanks to my gossipy neighbor. And I hid from everybody until the kaiju attacked." She cleared her throat, and Mako noticed her hands were shaking.

"As soon as I saw Striker deployed to fight it, I was terrified. I have never been more afraid that they wouldn't come back. That _he_ wouldn't come back. I had flat out run away from Herc, when he started towards me that morning. Didn't even say Happy New Year or good morning, just ran."

"But they did come back, alive and well, and with their tenth kaiju kill."

"Yes, yes they did. Chuck came to talk to me after, all smug and proud. But as soon as I knew he was safe, all the anger and sadness came flooding back, and I still didn't want to talk to him." She sniffled, wiped her face and looked Mako in the eye again.

"So, you know what's been up with me, and my twisted relationship with Chuck Hansen. Now, I wanna know exactly how you feel about Raleigh Becket."

Mako had never been more pleased to hear a knock on her door than in that moment. That it was Marshal Pentecost allowing her to co-pilot Gipsy Danger made it even better.

* * *

 _8 January 2025  
1100 hours_

Addie looked up at Gipsy Danger, and a small, nostalgic part of her was squealing like a fangirl. The rest of her was equally in awe, but for purely professional reasons. It was amazing to see it in one piece, having seen pictures of what the Mark-III looked like when it was left in Oblivion Bay, almost five years ago. The left arm had been severed, the Conn-Pod torn open, and a hole ripped through the left side.

'As good as new,' Raleigh had said when their tour of the Dome had finally ended at Gipsy. But Mako had been right when she said, 'Better than new.' Addie had run off after that, going to help one of the engineers with a jammed release mechanism before he decapitated himself. Plus, she had _really_ started to feel like a third wheel, the energy was crackling between those two.

God, she wished the Marshal hadn't interrupted right when he did, she was about to get a real answer about how Mako felt about Raleigh! She was owed an answer, and Addie let Mako know it before she left.

When Herc had invited her to stand with the Marshal, Chuck and himself in the LOCCENT to watch the Drift-Sync Test, she had declined. He had been disappointed but looked like he understood her decision. Putting her issues with Chuck and his big, stupid mouth aside, she had another reason to decline.

Gipsy's arms started to lift, hands coming up in front. It appeared to be fascinated by each movement of the fingers and wrists. Then they were brought up in a fighting stance. Whoops and hollers rang out through the whole hangar bay. Everyone was so excited, clapping and shouting.

Addie's smile widened further. She definitely preferred this view.

* * *

Tendo Choi had just engaged the Drift when someone burst into the room.

"Marshal! You need to," wheezing breath, "need to come with me." Herc turned to see Dr. Hermann Gottlieb, panting and looking like he'd run the length of the Shatterdome instead of the 30 feet between LOCCENT and K-Science.

"Not now, Mr. Gottlieb, I'm busy." Marshal Pentecost didn't even turn to face the man, his gaze locked on Miss Mori's stats.

"Newton has created a neural bridge from garbage and drifted with a kaiju." Silence consumed the LOCCENT, all eyes now on the physicist. Silence broken only by the AI reading off the neural handshake ratios. It announced that the neural bridge was complete, which pulled everyone back to the task at hand.

"Go on, Stacker. I got this." Herc said, waving at the man to go. As if he had been waiting for that signal, Pentecost swiftly made his way out. Herc nodded at Tendo who OK'd the startup sequence to calibrate left-right hemisphere control.

They all watched on as Gipsy's arms lifted one at a time, hands opening and closing before coming up in a ready position. The entire LOCCENT cheered and clapped as the calibration was completed and the neural handshake remained steady. Well, almost the entire LOCCENT.

Chuck took a breath and opened his mouth, no doubt to make some snide comment, judging by the arrogant look on his son's face. But then something changed, his expression froze. His eyes lost the haughty glint and he released the breath with a resigned sigh.

The older Ranger was surprised at this restraint. Herc looked at his son, _really_ looked at him, and saw an expression rarely shown on Chuck's face. Humility… Perhaps his fight with Phryne was making him grow up after all.

"What are you looking at, Old Man?" Chuck's face had turned so quickly to a reflexive rage that Herc questioned whether he'd seen the other emotion at all.

"Don't call me that, Boy." He sniped back, ire raised, but he dropped their argument immediately in light of blaring alarms. One of the pilots had dropped out of sync.

"Do you need me to pull the plug?" Tendo asked into the comms, a hand ready over the switch.

"No, it's my fault, I can get it under control." Herc heard Raleigh's voice through the speaker, sounding a little distracted. Herc watched the image of the neural link start to even out, but then Miss Mori's fell out of sync. Hers was even more erratic than Raleigh's had been. Tendo was shouting, frantically trying to shut down the Drift-Sync. He could hear Raleigh shouting to Mako over the speaker.

"Can you pull them out?" Herc shouted as he ran forward.

"No! Her connection is too strong! She's down the rabbit hole!" The Ranger looked up as he saw Gipsy Danger's right arm lift up in a defensive posture. Palm out as if to stop something. Then he noticed the shifting of the hand to the plasma caster.

"Everybody evacuate!" He shouted as he turned to the rest of the room, Tendo shouting the same command in Cantonese. Herc turned around and saw Chuck was already at one of the monitors, pulling up Gipsy's schematics to look for a failsafe. The Ranger hadn't expected him to be doing otherwise, but the look on his son's face closely resembled blind panic. As if knowing his father was staring, Chuck glanced over at him.

"Phryne's down there!" He had to shout over the sound of the plasma caster charging up and the still wailing alarms. Then running behind the control module, Chuck joined Tendo in pulling at the power cables.

"They're evacuating everyone down there, she's probably already out!"

"Are you kidding me?!" He yelled pulling out one of the cables. "I _know_ that she's doing the exact same thing we're doing right now." He grabbed for the cable that Tendo was struggling with, one hand each on the cable itself and one on the release handle. Herc paused in shock, having an awful moment of deja-vu.

He'd had the exact same thought when Angela had died just over a decade ago. He had let his own hopes for their safety override rational thought about the women in his life - or just woman now. Of course, Little Phryne was doing everything she could to help. She always cared about others more than herself. She wasn't very social, or good with people, but she cared deeply about everyone she knew. Always putting their needs ahead of her own.

All this ran through Herc's mind in that instant of shocked panic, knowing that Chuck had already had that revelation several moments earlier.

Both Hansen men, in a moment not dissimilar to Ghost-Drifting, looked out the window. They saw a small figure sprinting down one of the catwalks surrounding Gipsy Danger, familiar braids trailing behind. Headed straight for the charging plasma caster! He could almost feel Chuck's terror at that sight, and they all redoubled their efforts.

At the same moment Stacker came sprinting back into LOCCENT, shouting for them to shut it down, Chuck let out a triumphant yell as the release mechanism finally budged and disconnected from the console.

"We just did." Tendo announced panting as they turned and watched Gipsy's arm power down and slowly lower. The AI training program asking if they would like to try again.

* * *

 _8 January 2025  
1230 hours_

Raleigh stood with Mako in the hall listening to Chuck screaming at the Marshal and his father about incompetence; how he didn't want a Rookie and a Has-been ruining _his_ bomb-run. Like he had come up with the idea... Or wanted to do it at all. Herc had told him about the epic fight they had had about it. The blond would have scoffed if he didn't feel the shame and anguish radiating off Mako in waves.

He wasn't ghost drifting with her, they hadn't Drifted together enough for that—it wouldn't be long though, if they kept Drifting together. But her emotions were just so potent, Raleigh couldn't help but feel them.

She hadn't spoken a word since they pulled her out of the Drift. The techs that got her out of her Drivesuit had practically had to dress her back into her fatigues. Mako had just stood there in a daze letting them move her around like a doll. It wasn't until one of them put a cup of water in her hand and asked her to drink in Japanese that she startled out of her stupor. She looked confusedly down at the cup before putting it to her lips and drinking the whole thing down.

He was beginning to understand why the Marshal had been so against letting her into a Jaeger.

Sure, most Jaeger pilots had emotional baggage when it came to the Kaiju War, that had always been reason number one for enlistment into the Jaeger Academy. Normally they had more time to practice Drifting with their co-pilot in the Drift-Sync testing rig; a rig that was not, in any way, linked to an active Jaeger. Apparently, the Hong Kong rig had been cannibalized a few months before, and they just didn't have to time or resources to waste on constructing a new one.

On the other hand, it had been his slip into a memory that had started the whole mess. Up until that point, they had been doing great! The calibration and the way he and Mako so easily fell into sync was even better than with his brother the first time they had Drifted. It had been that thought about Yancy that had set him off.

The door opened and Herc practically threw Chuck out into the hallway, shouting at him to stay there as he went back into the office himself. No doubt so the senior officers could discuss what was going to be done about the absolute disaster that the Drift-Sync test had turned into.

The younger Hansen was looking murderous. He continued his rant from inside the Marshal's office, calling both Mako and Raleigh incompetent and so on. But what the Mark-III pilot didn't understand was where all this anger at him was coming from?

"And you put lives in danger, _her_ life in danger!" Now it made sense. Raleigh knew why Chuck was so furious. Not for endangering the lives of all the engineers in the bay, or his father's life, or even his own life, but for hers. The life of Phryne Addisyn Fisher.

Chuck eyes widened after that statement, having realized his admission. He covered it up with angry bluster.

"Cause here's the thing, Raaaleigh, I quite like my life. So, I want to come back from this alive." Chuck stepped up into his face, but Raleigh didn't move back or even flinch. "I don't want you screwing this up and killing us all." The ginger poked him in the chest, still Raleigh didn't rise to the bait. Mako did, however the blonde put an arm out in front of her saying he wasn't worth it.

"That's right, one of you bitches needs a leash." That was the last straw. Chuck smirked as he turned away thinking he'd won when he finally saw open anger on Raleigh's face. He never even saw the punch coming straight for his face.

* * *

 _8 January 2025  
1800 hours_

The Chief had assigned Addie to clean out and test all the joints in both Striker's arms and hands, by herself, as punishment for her reckless behavior. So, what she had run straight for a charging plasma caster? She knew the radius of the plasma arcs, and she knew exactly which cables to disconnect from where. The ones to stop the flow of power to the caster, but not disrupt the field and cause a massive explosion.

She was just finishing, wiping down all her equipment when she heard arguing from around the crates.

"I don't even recognize you, mate. Who are you?" That sounded like Herc.

"Who am I? What do you mean?" And that was definitely Chuck. Addie subconsciously moved closer at the sound of his voice, the rag and wrench in her hands forgotten.

"You're a great Ranger. Is that what you want to hear?" Chuck didn't respond verbally, and Addie didn't want to risk peeking around her cover to see. "Everybody knows that." She could hear the frustration in Herc's voice.

"What more do you want me to be?" The younger Pilot sounded almost as frustrated as his dad, and Addie wanted to scream at him for being such an idiot. She'd heard that he had gotten into a fight with Raleigh, something about him needing to apologize to Mako. She wanted to give him Hell for that.

"A better person! Like you are with Little Phryne!" That made her freeze. Like he was with her? Was he really that different around her? She knew that he had softened up while they had been spending time together, but was he really a better person around her?

"A better person? With her?" He mumbled something else, but she didn't hear, Addie's heart had dropped at the contempt in his voice. She put a hand over her mouth to smother the urge to cry out. Where Herc's words had given her hope, Chuck's unthinking ones had smashed it. Again.

She heard the thud of boots coming closer to her, making her scuttle further back into her hiding place.

"You know what?" Chuck sounded almost flippant, and closer. "At least you can't blame yourself." Further away again. "'Cause you didn't raise me to be anything. After Mum died, I spent more time with Addie's mum and these machines than I ever did with you. You know, the only reason we even speak anymore, Old man, is 'cause we're Drift compatible." There was so much anger in his voice.

Addie had to agree on some points, but she didn't like that Chuck was taking this all out on his father. Herc had enough to deal with—planning Operation Pitfall for one—he didn't need all that self-loathing on top of it. She could tell there was something else on Chuck's mind, though, Herc's comment had just been the last straw on the already over-laden camel's back. Something else had set him off. He was never very good at expressing what he was feeling in words. Especially when it came to his father.

Neither of the Hansen men knew how to actually talk to the other without starting a fight, that's what they had Max for.

"We're good at smashing things up, you and I. But you know what? We don't even need to speak at all. I'll catch you in the Drift, Dad." His tone was dismissive, like he really didn't care about Herc at all.

That self-centered prick. He just never learns, does he?

Addie heard his footsteps approaching again, and quickly came to a decision. Still forgetting the wrench in her left hand, she sidled closer to the corner of the crate so her right side was at the edge and waited for Chuck to come around the bend. She wanted to ambush and startle him enough to allow her to drag him off without much fuss from him. She had to peek around with just her right eye, her left being completely unreliable.

Addie was so focused watching for him and thinking of what to say, that she didn't hear Chuck come up behind her.

* * *

"What are you doin' skulking 'ere?" She squeaked and jerked around in surprise, a wrench swinging out in front of her. Chuck caught it just before it made contact with one of his ribs; there was no need for a second visit to the infirmary in the same day. Seriously, he knew she was a mechanical engineer, but what was with this girl and swinging wrenches around?

Addie looked about to apologize, but then she closed her mouth and a hardness entered her eyes. She kicked him in the shin—above the metal plate on his boots, curse her—and pulled the wrench from his grasp.

"I've got a serious bone to pick with you, Charles Donovan Hansen!" She poked him in the chest with the tool, and he had a sense of deja-vu.

Hadn't they done this a couple weeks ago? Almost exactly? He was too distracted to fight back when she grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him out of the hangar. This was the most alive he had seen her since New Year's. Chuck had missed it, missed her. If he hadn't still been pissed at his dad—and her to be honest—he would've been grinning.

"Alright, alright! Stop dragging me, dammit!" He jerked his arm down and back, pulling Addie almost against his chest. He caught her shoulder as she stumbled and righted her. Chuck didn't like being dragged by a girl in public view, but he wasn't a complete asshole. Not to her anyway.

She quickly moved away from his touch, almost like she was burned, and that stung him. She straightened her coveralls and glasses, hiding behind her hair again. He wanted to brush it out of her face so badly.

"Fine, but we're going somewhere else. I have no interest in making a spectacle, again." She looked back up at his face. "You've done enough of that yourself today."

Her hand reached up and almost touched the cut across his nose where Raleigh had broken it, and the ginger held his breath. She pulled away at the last second, shaking her head, and gestured for him to lead the way. Huffing a bit, he looked up and down the hall before continuing the way she had been taking him.

He took a right at the next junction, making sure it wasn't living quarters, and started testing doors. The third door opened to reveal a cross between a briefing room and a classroom; tiered desks lead down to an interactive-display board. Chuck jerked his head inside, Addie nodded and stepped in. He entered right behind her, shutting and locking the door.

He watched her hop up on a desk, as he leaned a shoulder against the wall, arms across his chest. They both just sat there for a couple minutes, silence reigning. She had clearly run out of steam and didn't know how to proceed from there.

"So, what 'bone' do you have to pick with me? The way I see it, I'm the one who should be pissed at you." Her head jerked up, shock clear on her face.

"What for?!" She asked indignantly.

"You kicked me in the shin, after nearly breaking my ribs with a wrench, and yelled at me for no good reason! And that's just the last five minutes!" Shouting, he stepped forward and uncrossed his arms.

"Why are you so angry all of the time?!" Addie hopped off the desk and came right up into his space. "What good does it do to yell at your dad now, eh? He's already got enough to deal with helping the Marshal to keep us up and running. Do you really have to add—"

"If you know I was yelling at my old man, then you know what I was upset about!"

"Alright, sure, he hasn't ever been father of the year, I grant you. But have you ever put yourself in his shoes?"

"Every time I get into Striker with him, I'm in his shoes!" That stopped her right in her self-righteous tracks.

"We both relive that horrible day, and every fight, and every tender moment! All of it! You and I've talked about this, Addie! Every single time I get in the Drift with him. Things you would rather not remember about your parents' lives. That everything wasn't perfect and wonderful. That they're not ha—" he chokes off the end of his rant. Turning away, Chuck wiped a hand down his face, trying to calm himself down.

"Then why are you still so angry?" Her voice was accusatory.

 _Dark hair fanned out on the pavement. Dead, sea-glass green eyes staring back at him. 'All your fault.'_

"And you!" Chuck shouted as he whipped around to face her.

"Me?!" Surprise and indignation fighting a war on her expression.

"Running straight for a charging plasma cannon! What in the hell were you thinking?!"

"What does that have to do with _you_ being angry?!" Indignation clearly having won.

"I don't want to lose you the way I lost Mum!" He could see surprise make a comeback—he was just as surprised at himself—and she took a step back. It quickly melted back to anger and indignation, and she stepped right back into his space.

"Well how do you think I feel, Chuck?! I lost my dad before I even had the chance to know him. I lost my mum to Kaiju freakin' Blue!" She choked back a sob.

"Phryne, I—" On seeing tears welling, he started to apologize, but she cut him off, slamming her hands onto his chest, trying to shove him back. Emphasis on trying, as Chuck caught her wrists and held her in place. Tears were streaming down her face and she was shouting now.

"Then you and Herc risk your lives every bleedin' time you get in Striker to fight those bloody monsters! I _can't_ lose another person I care about! I just can't!" Her hands fisted in his shirt, and she shook him with each word. Quieter, her voice was breaking with sobs, "You're all I have left."

He didn't have the courage to speak in that moment, so Chuck just put his arms around her and pulled her to him, resting his head atop hers. They stood like that for a few minutes, swaying a little side-to-side as Addie's tears slowly came to a stop. He took a deep breath and steeled himself.

"I'm sorry." He whispered it into her hair. She pulled back just enough to look him in the eye, pushing her glasses up into her hair as she did so to wipe at her face. She didn't pull them back down.

"What was that?" Her face was so hopeful, but he could see a lingering fear behind her eyes. It broke him a little to see that fear, knowing it was his fault and that she had every right.

"I said, I'm sorry." Her eyes widened a little. "For all of it. What I've done, what I've said to you almost our whole lives, but especially what I said on New Year's." He couldn't look her in the face and say the rest of it. He glanced down and saw her hands fiddling with his dog tags.

"I was angry at my old man. For making that decision for me, without asking. I probably would have said yes, eventually, but I just wished he had asked me before agreeing to do it. I was so pissed at him, so I went and got drunk in a bar, obviously. And then the party was still going on when I got back to the Shatterdome. I remembered that we had agreed to meet, and that you had been the one to suggest talking to my dad. So, I wanted to blame you for everything. I don't though!" He quickly recovered and met her gaze after feeling her trying to step away.

"I never did, no matter how much I wanted to some days. I never could." He pulled her close into a real hug, relieved when he felt her arms slowly shift to wrap around his torso. Her fingers latched onto the back of his shirt.

"Thank you." Addie mumbled into his chest, and Chuck felt like a tension had released, and he could breathe easy again. He had never felt more at peace than in that moment.

Unfortunately, said peace was broken only a minute later by the Kaiju alarm blaring through the entire Shatterdome. Tendo's voice came over the speakers.

"It's a Double Event!"

* * *

 _A/N: Again, I am so sorry for how long this took. I hit a serious bout of writer's block after the holidays last year and I got busier and busier at work and I didn't have much free-time for writing, and when I did, I got stuck on this one scene about half way in this chapter. But it's all good now, and a scene that I have had in my head since I started writing this over a year ago has finally been written and I am happy with it._

 _I also want to thank everybody who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story. They really helped me work through this monster of a chapter X3_

 _Now, as always, was it good? Bad? Somewhere in the middle? Let me know and there's a cookie in it for you ;P_


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